Aurora
by greenpeach20
Summary: Before they were vampires, they were once human. Hear Twilight's vampires tell their stories from their human years the way only they can. Some stories were happy, others, not so much. Time to tell their story
1. Table of Contents

**Table of Contents**

Heidi: Born-1000 b.c. Turned-978 b.c.

Chelsea: Born-93 b.c Turned-73 b.c.

Titus Valerius (Character of Greenpeach20, Story: Horizon, And Her Tears Filled The Moon): Born-79 b.c Turned-44 b.c

Felix: Born-73 b.c. Turned-49 b.c

Denali Coven: Sasha Born-180 a.d, Tanya Born-200 a.d, Kate (Katrina) Born-204 a.d, Irina Born-206 a.d (all turned 225 a.d) Vasilli Born-230 a.d Turned- 236 a.d.

Demetri: Born-1221 a.d. Turned-1247 a.d.

Afton: Born-1250 a.d. Turned-1276 a.d.

Corin: Born-1396 a.d. Turned-1418 a.d.

Eleazar: Born-1600 a.d. Turned-1636 a.d.

Carmen: Born-1632 a.d. Turned-1656 a.d.

Carlisle: Born-1643 a.d. Turned-1663 a.d

Rafael (Character of Greenpeach20 Story- The Renesmee Series/Horizon): Born-1748 a.d Turned-1770

Garret: Born-1749 a.d. Turned-1775 a.d.

Dorian Deerfield (Character of Greenpeach20 Story-The Renesmee Series, Chapter(s), Adventurous, Dorian): Born-1752 a.d. Turned-1780 a.d.

Jane & Alec: Born-1769 a.d Turned-1786 a.d.

Jasper: Born-1843 a.d. Turned-1863 a.d.

Mykolas (Character of Greenpeach20 Story: Horizon, Chapter- Plague): Born-1861 a.d. Turned-1893 a.d.

Esme: Born-1895 a.d. Turned-1921

Edward: Born-1901 a.d. Turned-1918 a.d.

Alice (Mary Alice): Born-1901 a.d. Turned-1920 a.d.

Rosalie: Born-1915 a.d. Turned-1933 a.d.

Emmett: Born-1915 a.d. Turned-1935 a.d.

Niele (Character of Greenpeach20 Story: Horizon, Chapter-Plague): Born-1914 a.d. Turned-1940 a.d.


	2. Heidi: Days of Old

**Days Of Old**

**Germania 990 b.c.**

I remember, growing up, it seemed like my village was always fighting. Our village was called Braun by us. What others called it, I don't know. My father would one day be happy and peaceful, or as peaceful as he could get, and not seem to have a care in the world. The next day, a large group of men would come to the village and father and the other men of Braun would have to fight them off. It was a constant, unchanging lifestyle that, to me, seemed tedious and unrewarding. But that wasn't something I could change.

When I was much younger than I am now, I can remember always working. Even now, all I do is work. I walk around with mother and other women gathering sticks and water from the river nearby while father runs around looking for food with the wolves we had by our side. And lately, mother had been looking at me strangely. I'd always been a short little girl. But in recent years, I'd sprouted into a much taller girl. I was taller than most boys my age now, like what seemed to be common. It was funny to me that men were the protectors and the providers, yet women, meek, weak, and defenseless, grew faster.

"Heidi, I'll get the water. You handle wood for today." My mother said while father was cooking a rabbit for breakfast. My little brother sat next to me chewing on a bone from last night's dinner. He'd been complaining recently about his teeth hurting him. Father simply said, 'be grateful you have teeth', and that was the end of his loving words.

"Yes, mother."

"And bring Adalwulf with you. He might like having a twig to chew on for a while." I nodded without adding further to the conversation. Adalwulf was my little brother. He was only a young age. We lost track of how old he is. No one really keeps track of such trivial things. He was named after our grandfather and looked a lot like mother. I looked more like father, though I had mother's reddish brown hair while father's hair was a simple brown.

After we had breakfast, father left to hunt for more food while mother made her way to the river to get fresh water. As mother ordered, I went through the woods with Adalwulf to get firewood. Some of the other children from the village accompanied me while others stayed and got to work on their winter clothes. The seasons were changing and leaves were falling. It would start snowing soon and we needed all the fur we could get. That was the reason father always saved the rabbit fur whenever we had rabbit for breakfast. It was mother's favorite kind of fur. It was soft and warm and did nicely to protect us from the cold wind.

"My mom's with child again." I looked at Xavier and shrugged. Xavier's mother was envied by all the women in the village because she'd already had five children and was still alive and healthy. Normally, a woman was lucky if she lived through one birth. My mother barely survived Adalwulf.

"She is? Doesn't she have enough kids?" I ignored Xavier and Björn while they spoke.

Once we gathered all the wood, we went back to the village and distributed the wood evenly amongst the families. Adalwulf chewed on a piece of wood that he'd found and went through that almost instantly, demanding something else to chew on. I handed him the bone he'd been chewing on earlier and told him to leave me alone.

Later that day, father came back fighting off a group of men that were trying to steal the deer that he and the others had caught through the day. They came through the village and started fighting once they had the deer protected behind them. I ran into our tent and tried to hide with my little brother. Adalwulf wanted to get out and fight the men off with a little stick, but I held onto him so he wouldn't get out.

"Let me go, Heidi. I want to go out."

"Well, too bad, you're staying in here. What good do you think you were going to do with a twig?"

"I'll do something. Let me go." As Adalwulf struggled, I held him tighter and tighter so he wouldn't get away.

As I held on tighter, a man barged into our tent yelling, making me and Adalwulf scream. I saw a large wooden spike at the corner of my eye, grabbed that, and pointed it forward, making the man run right into it, stopping his yell and giving him a stunned look on his face. Then he fell over, not quite dead, but in enough pain that he didn't want to fight anymore. Out of panic, my little brother started hitting the man over the head repeatedly. I stood back and let him, covering my face, not wanting to look.

While I was covering my eyes in fear, I noticed I felt sticky and a stabbing pain in my abdomen. I looked down and saw a lot of blood. I hadn't even felt the man stab me or see it. I couldn't understand why I was suddenly bleeding so much. I stood up and saw the blood everywhere and screamed. My little brother looked over asking me what was wrong and started screaming when he saw all the blood. Father came bursting through the cover of the tent yelling if we were okay. When he saw all the blood, he ran over to me and checked to see where my wound was. But his hands never found any cuts nor did I feel any scratches or cuts on my legs. All the pain was in my abdomen.

Then mother rushed into the tent after father, seeing all the blood. She didn't react as fearfully though. She acted a little proud if anything. She walked over and swatted father's hands away from me telling him that she knew what was going on and it was nothing for him to worry about. Then she took me with her to the river to clean me off. When I had all my clothes off, mother cleaned them while I cleaned myself.

"You said you know what's wrong with me." Mother nodded.

"Nothing's wrong with you, Heidi. You've become a woman is all. Every woman bleeds every month. It means that she can have children. And some woman feel a lot of pain during this monthly process, some don't. I never did, but that doesn't mean anything I don't think."

"So I'm not dying?" Mother shook her head.

"Not at all. We will need to start thinking about giving you a husband, though. It wouldn't be decent for a woman to be unmarried, and you wouldn't want to be indecent would you?"

"But I'm a little kid." Mother shook her head again.

"You've started your womanly cycles. You're not a child anymore. Since you're not a child anymore, you need to start having children right away. You don't have much time to do that."

"But Xavier's mother has four kids already. And she's with her fifth child and she's still okay. And you had me and Adalwulf and you're fine too."

"That's us. How many of your friends still have their mothers?" I didn't want to respond to her question. Aside from me, Xavier, and a boy in our village, Falk, there weren't any kids that still had their mothers. Most the children my age didn't even know their mothers. Braun lost more women to childbirth than even rap and invasion. "My point exactly."

"Well, maybe I don't want to have children. Maybe I want to live."

"You're a woman, Heidi. We make babies. That's what we were made for and that's all we do. There's no point in arguing over something you can't change. Besides, you're father will start looking for a husband for you as soon as he knows, so get used to the idea."

I didn't argue with mother any further. If I did, she would just start hitting me to get me to be quiet. As soon as we got back, mother and father took some time alone in our tent to talk. Adalwulf went away to play with Xavier and Julian with the wolves. I stood close to the tent hoping to overhear what mother and father were talking about. But they were talking so quietly that I couldn't tell.

"Heidi?" I turned around to look at whoever was talking to me. It was Mitzi. She was my younger cousin and one of my best friends. I smiled when I saw her.

"Hey, Mitzi." Mitzi didn't look all that happy.

"Are you okay? I heard you got injured."

"Oh no, I wasn't injured, I'm fine. Mother says it was just a sign that I'm a woman or something."

"Oh. So does that mean you'll be getting married soon?" I shrugged.

"Mother says so. I don't want to, though. Getting married means I'll have to start having kids."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Not if it means I'll most likely die. It happened to your mother, it happened to Oscar's mother, it happened to almost everyone's mother. I don't want that to be me."

"I see. Do you even have a choice in this, though? Father told me that the lord wanted to give one of Braun's to the village that's been attacking for so long. A peace offering I think he said." My eyes widened.

"Are you sure?" Mitzi nodded.

"Yeah. Lord is willing to do just about anything to get that village to leave us alone."

"Well, that won't include giving me away."

"But Heidi, you don't have a say in the matter." Mitzi wasn't being rude or mean. She was innocently stating the obvious. But it only made me angrier. I tried not to take it out on her and took a deep breath to calm myself.

"Let's just hope for the best. I think that's all we can do." Mitzi smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. That's a good idea." When Mitzi finished, I heard the tent move and looked over to see father coming out of the tent with a slightly angry look on his face. I tried to ask him what was wrong, but he stopped looking at me and started walking away. I saw him get into Lord's tent and that was it.

When father was out of my sight, I went in the tent with Mitzi following after me and saw mother sitting preparing some deer and cleaning the fur. She only looked up to acknowledge me and smiled before getting right back to work without saying a word. I took a seat across from her with Mitzi at my side.

"So what did father say?" Mother shrugged.

"The same thing I did, Heidi. It's time to give your hand in marriage, end of discussion."

"But who does he want to give me to?"

"I don't know, Heidi. That's for Lord to decide once your father tells him. Lord will know the best man to give you to and that's that." I sighed and looked at my hands in my lap. Adalwulf came into the tent and made his way to his bed to hide something. Adalwulf looked at me, then looked away hurriedly.

"Adalwulf." I said his name with a quiet, but urgent voice. He looked up at me again with the same awkward stare.

"Yeah?"

"Come with me for a minute. I think we need to get more wood." Mother shook her head.

"We have enough for now, Heidi. You can gather wood with everyone else tomorrow."

"Fine then. At least let me take him to get cleaned. He's filthy as death." Mother gave me a stern look at my tone, then looked at Adalwulf and sighed.

"Fine. He could use the bath. But you're to be back before your father finishes with Lord, understood?"

"Mother, that could….."

"I said, is that understood?" Her tone was harsher this time and she was giving me a stern look that matched her voice. I breathed and nodded.

"Yes mother." Then I looked at Adalwulf. "Come one. You need a bath." Adalwulf shook his head.

"I don't want a bath."

"Well, too bad. You're getting one."

"You're not mother. You can't tell me what to do." Mother rolled her eyes.

"I'm telling her to take you to get a bath. When your father isn't here, my word goes. Now go with your sister and take a bath. You won't get back into this tent until you're clean." I grinned while Adalwulf pouted and walked over to me. I took a hold of his hand and pulled him with me out of the tent.

I walked as fast as I could to the river dragging my little brother behind me. I didn't listen to his complaints or his demands that I slow down. When we finally reached the river, I took off his clothes and threw him in. While he yelled at me, I hung up his clothes before turning my attention to him and giving him a look of death. When he saw my face, his face froze and he stayed quiet.

"What was that about?"

"What?"

"That look you gave me when you came home. What were you staring at me like that for?"

"I wasn't staring at you like anything."

"You're a horrible liar, Adalwulf. Now tell me what you know that I don't." Adalwulf rolled his eyes and sighed.

"I don't know, Heidi. The other kids just said that you'll get married soon."

"Why would that initiate a weird look from you, little brother?" Adalwulf backed away a little, not wanting to answer me.

"Well, Heidi…..Let's face it, you're not exactly…….What's the word I'm looking for?.........You don't look like any woman I've seen. You're kind of scrawny."

"Scrawny?! You're one to talk you little fichus."

"Hey, I'm still a little boy. I have time to grow into a man. You're a woman and you hardly look like one. You should be the one that's concerned if you ask me."

"Well, I didn't ask you. Now get cleaned. I don't want mother yelling at us for taking so long when we get back."

"It's your fault she sent us out in the first place. If you want to talk to me about all this stupid girly stuff, than you should've just met me outside the tent. See how much easier that would've been?"

"Don't question me, you toad. Now get cleaned up." Adalwulf glared at me for the rest of his bath, but did as I said. He didn't want to make mother angry either. She was a nasty lady when she was mad.

When he was done, he put on his clothes and we ran back to the village and went straight to our tent. Father was already there with mother getting ready to eat. Father looked upset and mother did too. Adalwulf and I simply took our seats and waited for mother to hand us a bowl so we could eat. But she didn't hand either of us anything.

"I told you two to be back before your father came home."

"I'm sorry mother. Adalwulf was really dirty. We were trying to get him really clean. You said you wouldn't let us in if he wasn't clean."

"Don't throw my words at me, Heidi. Your father wants to talk to you, that's why I told you to be home. Next time, listen to me, or there'll be a lashing." Then father spoke.

"Edith, that's enough." Mother looked at father a moment before looking at me again, but remaining silent, letting father speak. "I've spoken to Lord, Heidi. We have an idea of who we want to give you to, but it's not sure yet."

"Why?" Father sighed.

"We might give you to Lord Heidbrier." I gave father a weird look.

"Who's Lord Heidbrier?" I was trying to think if there was anyone in our village called Heidbrier, but I couldn't think of anyone.

"He's the leader of the village we've been fighting for a long time. Lord Braun is hoping giving you to their lord in marriage will stop the attacks. They've killed too many of our men and we simply can't handle anymore onslaughts." My eyes widened. I was furious, but I forced that emotion not to show.

"You're giving me to someone outside the village?" Father nodded, either not realizing or completely ignoring the slight anger in my voice.

"We've already sent a messenger over to them to tell them we're coming. We leave tomorrow and meet the messenger there. If they accept you, then they'll finally leave us alone. But if not, then we'll have to fight and try to run for home."

I didn't say anything in response. I wasn't sure what I could say. When I didn't speak, mother finally started dishing some food out for me and Adalwulf. But with the sudden news, I wasn't hungry. I poked at my food without looking at either mother or father. Neither of them said anything about my loss of appetite. When Adalwulf finished his piece of meat, he took mine since I wasn't eating. Normally, mother and father would have a fit, but tonight, they didn't say a word.

After dinner, mother and I took off all the meat that wasn't eaten and put it on a little skewer so we could turn it into jerky and store it for the winter. And we started cleaning out the bones for medicine and to make new utensils and weapons. Father went to Lord to prepare for tomorrow while Adalwulf went to bed without saying a word to me. While mother and I worked, mother finally got tired of the silence and spoke.

"This is exciting. Tomorrow, you'll be engaged."

"Father said they aren't sure."

"Oh Heidi, Adolf just said that to be safe. I'm sure everything will turn out fine."

"How can you be so sure about that, mother? These people have been nothing but thorns in our side and now you're giving me to them as a gift."

"You know why we're doing this, Heidi. Arguing isn't something I want to do our last night together."

"What else is there to talk about, mother?" Mother didn't say anything more. She just stared at me a moment before getting back to what she'd been doing, as did I. But another ten minutes went by and I started feeling bad. "I'm sorry. I just don't want to go." Mother sighed.

"I don't want you to go either, Heidi. But there's nothing I can do about that. All I can do is take advantage of this last quality time we have." I looked at mother a bit while she got out the last of some bone marrow from a deer's femur.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Heidi." I breathed deeply, not sure I really wanted to hear the answer to my question.

"Do you and father love each other?" Mother was silent a moment. I didn't really like that reaction. I was hoping that she would laugh and tell me the answer was obvious. But she was being too quiet. "Mother?"

"No, Heidi, we don't. Adolf was several years older than me and I was about your age when we got married. The Lord at the time said he was a good husband for me, my father didn't argue, and now Adolf and I have been unhappily married for all this time." I was silent again and went back to work. When I spoke, it was a whisper.

"I don't want that, mother."

"I know you don't Heidi. Neither did I. Neither does any woman in Braun that has to go through this. But we have no say in the matter. We never have and we never will. So just learn to do what I do. Pretend you're happy and follow your husband with everything he does without complaint and without a word. Women get beaten for arguing. Your father slapped me once for speaking back at him and I learned after that to never do it again. I'm telling you now so you don't make the same mistake I did." I gave my mother a serious look then. I knew I was pushing it, but I didn't care.

"I'm not going." Mother looked up at me wide eyed.

"What?"

"I'm not going. You might be okay with becoming a beaten puppy, mother, but I'm not. I'm not walking into a marriage where I know I'll be mistreated." Mother didn't respond. She only shook her head and got back to work.

When father got back, we all went to sleep and put out the fire. It was a long time before I went to sleep. I kept staring at the ceiling of our tent thinking. I didn't know what these people were really like, if they were different from what I'd always know them as. I had never met Lord Heidbrier, nor even heard of him. I had no idea how old he was, I didn't know what he was like or if he already had children, I didn't know anything. When I finally did fall asleep, I dreamed of what the next day might be like. But it was a horrible dream. I dreamed we were riding to their village on our horses with our wolves following close by and the other village attacking us with a vengeance. When I woke up, it was to my father shaking me.

"Heidi, get up. We need to get you ready before we go." I groaned out of sleep and father shook me again, repeating the same thing. I finally opened my eyes and forced myself out of my bed and followed after father to Lord's tent.

When we got there, the Lord's daughter had a new outfit picked out for me that father and Lord deemed more suitable. It was a tighter fitting dress than I'd ever worn before. And the fur that was showing from under the cuffs of the sleeves reveled that it was fox fur. It was tight around my neck and a yard of fur surrounded my shoulders like a hood with buttons made of nacre. When I had the dress on, it reached my ankles showing only my fur boots. Before we left, mother came to me and hugged for. It was first time I ever remembered her hugging me.

"You'll make a wonderful wife, Heidi. Just remember what I told you." Reluctantly, I nodded my head.

"I will mother." Mother let go of me after a moment and father led me to the horse and helped me up onto the horse. Before we left, father was sure to remind me that I was to say nothing unless I was spoken to. I only nodded my head and that made father smile and pat my back approvingly.

Father and the three other men coming with us, including our Lord, got on their horses and we made our way to where the Heidbrier village was currently resting. We left when it was still night and were still traveling when the sun started peeking in over the horizon. Father was speaking to Lord the whole time with the others remaining silent. I followed suit and said nothing. Whether I liked it or not, I would have to hope whoever they were giving me to would find me pleasant. If they didn't, there was no telling what they'd do. There wasn't even a guarantee that our messenger had been accepted and was still alive. That thought sent a chill down my spine.

The more I thought about it, there more nervous I was becoming. My stomach was turning uncomfortably and I could almost picture them slaughtering us because they found me undesirable. It was all I could seem to think about and I was ashamed to realize that I was desperately hoping for something I wanted least in life.

When we were approaching the village, I saw people start to notice us coming and run away or prepare to attack. All the while, I tried my best to look beautiful in whatever way I could. I tried puffing up my chest a little, sitting tall and straight, keeping my face blank and unyielding, anything I could think of that made me think of what a man would consider good qualities in a wife. People looked at us cautiously, but didn't attack us since we weren't attacking them. When we were close enough into the village, a tall, burly man got out of a tent and crossed his arms, looking at me strangely. We stopped when he was standing a few feet away from Lord's horse.

"This is it? You tell us you'll bring us a woman and you give us a child?" The man who spoke scared me. He had a long, thick brown beard that reached the top of his chest and a hard face that made him seem savage with the addition of all the wolf fur we saw him wearing. Lord shook his head, got off his horse to walk to me, and pulled me off my horse and presented me. I wasn't as tall as Lord, but I wasn't a very short girl, either.

"I assure you, Lord Heidbrier, she's every bit a woman as any other. She's young, yes, but she's become a woman a short time ago. It is our hope that you will accept Heidi as an offering to end this mindless bloodshed." Lord Heidbrier shook his head.

"What need do I have for a child? I have my wife and I have my sons. I don't want or need a daughter. And even if I did accept her, she can't carry on my legacy." Lord walked us a little closer.

"I won't argue that is true. But you have sons. Heidi is a lovely girl and would undoubtedly make a wonderful wife to one of your sons." As much as I hated what I was hearing, I never said a word. I only stood there and listened to them talk.

"I hardly think a child is worthy of any of my sons, Lord Braun." I stared forward, resisting the urge to look around. I was wondering where our messenger was. We didn't see him on our way here, so I would naturally assume he was still here.

"I promise you, she's no child. She's shed a woman's blood and is now able to bear children. She's as good as any woman." Lord Heidbrier looked at me a little longer, pondering. He walked closer to me and Lord Braun stepped back to allow the inspection.

I was short compared to Lord Heidbrier, but from what I could tell, I was no shorter than any other woman I was seeing. I noticed him grab a lock of my hair and inspect that, nodding slightly when the reddish brown color of my hair was satisfactory. Then he took a hold of my face by the chin and looked at me, turning my face to see all parts. Once again, he nodded approvingly. I was hopeful that maybe we'd all be alright after all. Lord Heidbrier started patting me down once he was standing behind me. I assumed he was checking for curves on my body, but I wasn't entirely sure. When he was done, he didn't look as impressed with that as he had with the other things. Then Lord Heidbrier looked at me a moment before sighing.

"She'll do, I suppose. She's certainly a beauty, that much I'll give you. But we better not have to wait long for her to grow any further." Lord Braun nodded his head.

"Not long at all, I assure you. But she can bear children as soon as you like." I held my composure, though my stomach was flipping and I felt sick. Lord Heidbrier looked at me a little longer in thought. Everyone stood in silence, watching him, waiting for him to pass judgment. Eventually, he finally came out of his thoughtfulness and looked at father.

"I suppose she could be a good wife for my youngest son, Sören. He's still older than you, but you'll do." I heard Lord Braun breathe a sigh of relief when Lord Heidbrier accepted me. Then he looked over his shoulder and called for Sören.

When Heidbrier called for him, a tall man came forward. He had facial hair, but it was nowhere near as prominent as his father's. His hair was a dark brown and he had intense brown eyes. Looking at him made me think of father. Father was always really detached and distant emotionally. Sören seemed to be the same way. For some reason, this fact made me feel a little less nervous.

"So what do you think, son?" Sören looked at me a moment, then looked at his father.

"She's a child." Lord Heidbrier shrugged.

"She's a small woman, but her father and Lord Braun assure us that she will grow quickly. And she's perfectly capable of having children right away." Sören looked at me again before looking back at his father.

"What happens if they're lying to us?" I felt like my heart had stopped when he said that. The thought that they would accuse us of lying never crossed my mind. I only knew as much as mother and father told me, but I would still be guilty by association. Lord Heidbrier simply smiled in humor.

"The same thing that happens to anyone who lies to us. We kill them." Though I held a straight face, I could feel myself shaking. It was hard to keep myself from shaking and I think Sören noticed. But he didn't look like he really cared. Then he shrugged and turned, about to walk away.

"Can't hurt, I guess. Sure, I'll take her." Lord Heidbrier smiled and patted Sören's shoulder as he walked away and then turned his attention back to Lord Braun and my father.

"There you have it. My son approves of the gift you've brought. We shall have a wedding ceremony tomorrow." Then Lord Heidbrier walked closer to us. "I assume you brought a suitable dowry."

"Yes, of course." I heard Lord Braun say this, then heard him say something to father. I looked over and saw father pull something off his horse and bring it over to Lord Heidbrier. Heidbrier looked through everything my father handed him and shrugged when he was done.

"I would expect better, but it'll do for now." My father's eyes widened.

"What do you mean, 'for now'?"

"You can't possibly think food is enough of a dowry to impress me. I expect this among other things, like tools, raw materials, furs, anything that a village would need."

"We don't have enough of that to spare. We gave you what we could spare for a dowry." Heidbrier shook his head at Lord Braun.

"It's not about what you can spare. It's about being respectful to your daughter's future family. And what you're giving me is hardly a respectable dowry. Our new couple can't live off this alone. How's she going to make a coat for my son, what's my son to use to make tools to protect his young wife? It takes a lot more than food to survive the winter." My father lost his temper and came forward.

"We don't have enough of that because you keep taking it. Why don't you provide them with things? Most of it belongs to us, after all."

I turned my attention to Lord Heidbrier, expecting him to be furious. But he didn't look mad at all. He looked amused. Oddly enough, this made me even more nervous. I didn't trust him in the slightest. He turned to look over his shoulder and told a man standing behind him to get Sören. When he was standing next to his father, he looked as uninterested as before.

"What?"

"Take your bride to your mother. I think she might want to freshen up after her long ride here and I'm sure your mother is looking forward to meeting her new daughter." Sören simply nodded his head and walked over to me, taking my hand and leading me with him to a tent that was further in the village.

It was a much larger village than mine. There seemed to be more people there than I'd ever seen before. What stunned me was how many women there were. In my village, women were either very young and without mothers, or they were the lucky few that lived through childbirth. Here, the amount of women I saw, with children no less, were staggering compared to my home. Sören took me closer to the last few homes of the village and stopped when an older woman came out of the tent. When she saw Sören, she gave him a small smile. But when she saw me, she looked upset for some reason.

She was a short woman, just barely at my eye level, with brown hair and brown eyes that were fierce and undying. She was very curvy. Her shape reminded me of a pear or a drinking container. But with that shape, she was also oddly boney. I wondered if this might be because of working so much.

"Who's this?" Her tone was a little harsh. I didn't appreciate it at all, but I didn't saw a thing.

"She's the bride that messenger told us about."

"Okay, fine, but who's marrying her? I thought your father killed that guy." My eyes widened when she said that. Sören remained indifferent looking.

"He did. And father's giving her to me." With those words, the woman's eyes shot open.

"What?!"

"What does it matter? She's capable of bearing children and the father assures me that she'll grow more in a short period of time."

"Well, I hope the ones who brought her made up for the poor quality by giving us a good dowry."

"Father wasn't too impressed with it, but he'll probably take care of that. He was never fond of the Braun village anyway, so he might use this as an excuse to get rid of them all together for the insult."

"No!" They both looked at me stunned from my outburst. The woman was the one to address it and she looked like she was about to hit me.

"I did not give you permission to speak." Sören stopped her from hitting me by grabbing onto her wrist.

"She's my future wife, mother. I'll handle this appropriately. But I don't have time to do that now. Just take her inside and get her ready for dinner tonight. And get Aunt Aleida to help you. You two can let her know how everything works around here and make her feel welcome."

Sören patted my head once before taking his leave and going back in the other direction. When I couldn't see him anymore, the woman took a hold of my hand and pulled me with her into the tent. Then she sat me down and looked around for something. When she found what she was looking for, a leg of deer, she left the tent. I sat where she put me, waiting for her to get back. A few moments later, I started hearing women talking to each other and approaching the tent. I finally heard them clearly when they both entered.

The new woman also had brown hair, though it was a little darker. She was just as full figured and her eyes were also a deep brown. But her eyes weren't nearly so cold. The actually looked welcoming and inviting. And when she looked at me, she smiled more.

"So this is my new niece?" The other woman nodded.

"It would appear so. I didn't think Kraus was planning to accept this girl when he killed the messenger, but I suppose he saw some good in her." The kinder woman shrugged.

"I don't know. I think you're being too judgmental. She's a sight to see as it is. Imagine what a beauty she'll be when she's fully grown. Besides, Germaine, there's no use in arguing with Kraus. Once he's made a decision, he's stuck to it, you know that."

"That's hardly the point, Aleida." Aleida sighed.

"Look, Germaine. You've been good for my brother all these years. I think that's the only reason he doesn't beat you senseless with that attitude you have. But seeing as he's been so good to you over the years, I don't think you should complain too much when he does something. Especially when the decision isn't very rash."

"He accepted a bribe from a village he's killing off anyway. How's that not rash." Aleida rolled her eyes.

"You know what, Germaine, if you're going to complain the whole time about this, I think it best you just leave this to me. Go to my house and do something. I don't care what you do as long as you're keeping yourself occupied. I'll take care of the bride to be."

Germaine looked reluctant at first. She looked at me for several moments before she finally sighed and left the tent to go somewhere else. Once she was gone, Aleida came to me with a kind, inviting smile. I couldn't concentrate on it though.

"Hello. I'm Aleida, your new aunt. What's your name?"

"Why is Lord Heidbrier going to kill my village? He brought me. I thought that would make your village stand down." I was almost crying now. It was the first time I'd shown any emotion since yesterday when father told me he was bringing me here. Aleida lost her smile and sighed.

"I wish I could tell you everything would be okay, but I can't. What I can tell you is that you have nothing to fear. You'll be Sören's wife by tomorrow. And once you two are married, you'll be an official member of this village just like anyone else and will be treated as such. Not to mention you'd have the right to punish anyone that brought harm to you. You are, after all, the wife of the future lord of this village."

"That hardly makes me feel better." Aleida shrugged.

"That's not something I can help. I'm just letting you know what's going on."

Aleida walked over to another part of the tent and looked through a pile of clothes. When she found what she was looking for, she pulled it out and walked back over to me. She was holding something white. It was entirely fur. White fox fur from what I could tell. Along with it was a dress that was made out of a fabric I'd never seen before.

"What's this white stuff?" Aleida shrugged.

"No idea. We encountered a village one day that had it. It's white and comfortable and plenty warm, so it makes a perfect dress for winter weddings. And you'll be wearing white fur, of course."

I looked at the dress she was showing me for a moment. It wasn't anything really spectacular. It looked the same as any other dress that the women around the village were wearing, only white. I looked at it aimlessly while Aleida stayed quiet. When I did speak again, her expression didn't lose any of its enthusiasm.

"I don't want to marry Sören. I hardly know him." Aleida shrugged.

"I hardly knew my husband before we got married and we're doing alright." I looked up at her questioningly.

"Do you love him?" Aleida was quiet again. She lost a lot of her smile, but not all of it. Now her smile seemed sad. She didn't answer me for a moment, but when she did, her smile returned with a vengeance.

"Of course I do. He's my husband." I sighed a little to myself. It wasn't hard to see that she was lying. We didn't talk about it further. She simply changed the subject. "I know Sören looks scary, but once you get over that little part of him, he's really a good boy. He'll make you a wonderful husband."

"He seems so distant all the time." Aleida shrugged.

"That's probably because of his mother, Germaine. She's not a very affectionate person, so she never really nurtured Sören when he was a boy." Then in the background, we heard a horn blow. It went on a moment, then stopped. Once the noise was gone, Aleida turned back to me. "It's the village horn. That means everyone needs to go to the middle of the village where we have a clearing. I think they're going to announce the engagement."

Then Aleida took my hand and pulled me with her out of the tent and led me to the center where everyone was gathering. When we got there, she handed me to Sören, who only glanced at me before grabbing my hand and leading me with him towards a platform where Lord Heidbrier was standing. Lord Heidbrier caught the people's attention with a booming voice.

"My friends, family, and comrades. Today, Heidbrier welcomes a new family. I, Kraus Heidbrier, am pleased to announce to you my future daughter." Then he turned his attention to me, as did everyone else. Sören pulled me forward with him and put me front and center. When I was standing right next to Lord Heidbrier, he smiled at me. "Tell them who you are, dear."

I looked at Lord Heidbrier nervously, then glanced at Sören, then Aleida. Aleida smiled and motioned her hands towards me as a way of encouragement. Everyone stared and waited patiently for me to respond. Sören swatted my back gently, thinking maybe I was in a daze and trying to get me out of it. When he did that, I took a deep breath and looked forward, not at anything or anyone in particular.

"Heidi." Lord Heidbrier grinned and looked back at everyone.

"My new daughter and the wife of your future leader, Heidi. The wedding will be tomorrow and there will be a grand feast for all to celebrate this wondrous union. Hurray for Sören and Heidi."

The crowd cheered back the words Heidbrier had said three times before roaring in applause. I stood there looking at them and feeling nervousness in the pit of my stomach. All I could think about was my family. What would happen to my parents and my little brother? Adalwulf used to be such a pain, but now, I felt like I'd give anything to hug him and tell him he was the best little brother a sister could ask for. I wished that I could've been closer to mother and father. In truth, father's quick to anger way of parenting scared me and made me scared of him. But that didn't seem to matter anymore. I was taken out of my thoughtfulness when I saw three men coming towards me with smiles on their faces.

"Sören finally gets a wife. It's about time." I didn't hear Sören say anything, but the man standing at the front grinned. "Don't give me that face. I'm only teasing you because I care." The man standing to his left spoke.

"I just can't believe you're marrying a little girl. I mean, my wife's younger than me too, but this is a little extreme." The man to the far right nodded his head.

"How do you know she can even have kids? Her family could be lying." I kept my head down as they spoke. I knew what they would start talking about and I didn't want to listen to it. When Sören spoke, he sounded uninterested as always.

"If she can't have kids now, she'll be able to have them eventually. She can only grow, after all. Besides, father's the one that handles this sort of stuff, not me." The man in the middle grinned.

"You'll have to deal with it eventually too, oh father's successor." The one to the far right, rolled his eyes.

"I still can't believe you're taking over. You're the youngest. Why wouldn't he pick you?" He looked at the man in the middle and he shrugged.

"I suppose he wanted to insure that the one who took over after him would rule for a long, long time. You must admit, his youth ensures that he'll live longer than us."

"You never know. He might not." The one to the far left said with a wicked grin. I took a step back when I saw him.

He scared me and I didn't want to look at him. He had sideburns and long, curly brown hair that went to his shoulders. He looked older than the other two, but that might have been because the other two didn't have any facial hair. They both just had long hair. I wondered why Sören had such short hair. I suddenly realized he was the only one in the village with short hair. Instead of getting nervous or yelling, Sören grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back.

"Maybe one day, I'll die young and you three can fight to the death like you've always wanted. But for now, I think I should show my future wife around. It's only polite."

Before any of the three men could respond, Sören turned me in the other direction and led me in front of him into the village. I avoided looking back. The one that had been on the left scared me. Instead, I looked up at Sören and didn't see anything odd about his face. I looked down again and didn't say a thing. He was the one who eventually spoke.

"Those were my brothers by the way." I looked up at him again, then looked back down.

"That's nice." I felt him shrug. I looked up again, curious. "Is it?" He half shrugged, half shook his head.

"They're far from my favorite people in the world. They're all a lot older than me, so when father said he wanted me to take over when he died, it caused a lot of tension between us. I was the little brother that took away what they consider rightfully belongs to Falk, and to me they're the jealous siblings that went out of their way to outcast me from their group."

"That's awful."

"I guess you could call it that. But in a way, I'm grateful to them for being so callous to me when I was younger."

"Why would you be grateful for that?" He breathed out and thought for a moment.

"I guess you could say they taught me to always be on my toes, no matter what."

"So you can't be relaxed, even in your own home?" He shook his head then.

"I can when I'm home. I already have my own tent and that's where I relax and unwind." He looked at me then with as serious a face as ever. "That being said, I want to tell you something. I guess you could say it's a rule I have for my house."

"Yes?"

"Don't talk to me when we're home before dinner. Unless I talk to you, of course. I value getting to have some quiet time and I'd like to be able to keep that." I nodded my head.

"Yes, sir." He looked at me with a strange look. It was sort of confused. "Did I do something?"

"You don't have to call me sir."

"Mother told me that I should call you sir."

"Well, your mother doesn't tell you what to do anymore. I do. And I'm telling you not to call me sir. Just call me Sören and I'll call you Heidi. That's what we were named and that's how we'll address each other. Clear?" I nodded.

"Yes…Sören." He nodded approvingly.

"Good. Glad that's clear." I simply nodded my head in agreement.

Shortly after, we reached a large tent that I hadn't seen before. He opened the door and gently pushed my back, telling me to go in. I walked in and took a look around at it. It was relatively large compared to anything I'd ever stayed in. I suppose that's normal when you're the heir to power. There was a fire pit in the middle with a rug of fur that was the bed off to the right and the left side was pretty much empty.

"This is my home, so think of it as yours too." I didn't respond with more than a nod. I heard him close the door and walk over to me and saw him take a seat next to the fire pit. "Today will be an exception to my usual rule of no talking before dinner. Come sit with me." He motioned his hand for me to sit next to him. I did as he said and walked over and took a seat. When I was down, he breathed out and spoke. "First things first. Remind me what village you came from."

"Braun, si…Sören." He smiled a little at my correction.

"Alright. The village we've been confronting lately."

"Sören." I doubted this would help, but I wanted to at least try. He looked up at me again, waiting for me to speak. I could tell he was a little annoyed that I spoke out of turn, but that wasn't important at the moment. "Please. Don't do anything to my family. They gave me in the hopes that we wouldn't have to fight you anymore." I realized I started crying and held my head down. I wanted to speak further, but he answered.

"I don't have a say in what happens to them. If father decides to dispose of them, there's nothing I can do or say that will change his mind. Until he dies, I'm just like any other person in this village that takes orders from my father and follows them without question."

I hated his tone. It was so matter-of-fact and business-like. I couldn't understand how he could be so chauvinistic. Lord Heidbrier hinted repeatedly that he was planning to rid of my village and he acted like it was just a day of hunting. It infuriated me. I stopped crying and looked at the fire pit, but still looked upset, I was sure. Sören didn't say anything again for a good while. Or it felt like a long time.

"Try to get over it. You have a family here now."

"Your father's a beast for doing this to innocent people and you're no better than he is whether you claim to have a say or not."

I spoke before thinking and immediately regretted what I said. He would hit me, I was sure. Father always hit me whenever I spoke out of line. Mother did too. And she warned me that a husband would hit if his wife spoke out of turn or did anything to offend him. I sat there looking at the fire pit, waiting for him to hit me. But he didn't. When a minute or so passed, I looked up at him. He was looking at me, but it was the same face I'd seen since I first saw him.

"There's venison out front. I expect it cooked by the time I get back." Then he stood up and walked out of the tent, leaving me staring at the spot he'd once been in.

After simply staring at his seat for a few minutes, I finally sighed and stood up to go to where he said the deer meat was. He forgot to mention it was still whole. I didn't want to bother with a leg, so I cut of a section of meat near where it was already cut open and took that inside. I guessed that a large chunk of meat would be enough for him and me. I put that on a plate and lit a fire to get it started. I found some knives and stones I could use to tenderize and cut up the meat so it would be easier to cook. I wasn't sure when he'd be back and I didn't think I would have time for a rotisserie.

Once I had everything in a decent size, I started cooking them on a thin piece of bone I found. I saw mother cook her meat that way and it seemed to work relatively well. I only hoped he hadn't been using for something else important. As I was cooking, someone came in and surprised me. I looked over and saw the man from before who'd been to the left. He smiled slightly at me and walked in.

"A little birdie tells me you yelled at Sören." I shook my head. Then he looked surprised. "You didn't? Interesting. You never called him or our father a beast?" I breathed out the breath I was holding. I should've figured that's what he was talking about. I nodded and he gave me another smile. "I thought so. My wife heard you two talking. Her name is Adriane by the way. You'll meet her tomorrow."

"I spoke before thinking. I'm sorry to cause offense." He laughed a little under his breath.

"You're damn right you spoke before thinking. You're lucky he didn't beat you to a pulp for being so offensive. Normally, father would have a few things to say to you, but once again, Sören was kind and saved your pretty little neck. He told father to let him handle it."

"Isidor!" I heard Sören yell from outside the tent. The man, Isidor, looked over his shoulder at Sören as he approached and smiled.

"Hey, runt. How've you been?" Sören pushed Isidor aside so he could enter the tent.

"I didn't give you permission to enter my tent and I certainly didn't give you permission to speak to my wife so rudely."

"She's not your wife yet, runt. I can talk to her however I please."

"Not while she's in my house. Now get out and let me eat in peace." Isidor gave Sören a strange, hostile look before stepping out of the tent and walking away. Sören didn't say anything as he walked over to the pit, nor did he say anything about the food not being cooking entirely yet. When he finally did talk, it was just as indifferently.

"That was Isidor. He's the second born out of all four of us. Falk is the oldest, Isidor is the second, Kilian is third, and I'm the youngest. I'm sorry if he scared you. He tends to have that effect on people." I shook my head.

"It's alright." He was quiet again for a moment. I didn't think he would say anything, but he took me by surprise.

"I spoke to my father." I immediately looked at him, a little stunned.

"What?"

"I spoke with my father. About your village. I can't promise you that they'll live, but I can at least tell you that I spoke to father and tried to change his mind." I looked at him a little dumbfounded for a moment. I wasn't sure what to say. When I could finally talk again, I smiled a little.

"Thank you. I'm sorry I spoke to you like that." He was silent a moment before he said anything.

"Just don't yell at me like that again and we'll get along fine." I smiled a little and nodded my head and handed him a plate of food when it was done. He started eating and looked at the pit for the most part. I looked at his hair again and suddenly got the urge to ask.

"Why are you the only one here with short hair?" He looked at me from the pit, surprised by my question.

"I cut it so my brothers couldn't grab onto it anymore. They used to grab onto my hair and hold me in a headlock and beat me up. I cut it so they couldn't grab onto it and I'd have a shot at beating them." My eyes widened.

"They used to do that to you?" He nodded.

"Like I said. We have tension because father decided to have me take over when he died. They don' like that, so they'd beat me up every chance they got."

"Why didn't your father or mother stop them?" Sören laughed a little to himself.

"Please. Father encouraged us to fight. He said it made us more useful in battle. And mother decided there was no better way to separate the boys from the men than to let us beat the shit out of each other and see who was left standing. Why? How did you and your siblings get along?"

"We didn't beat each other up. I had one little brother, Adalwulf, and I never beat him up. Push him around, maybe, but I never hurt him. I left punishing to mother and father."

"Well, that's your family. In my family, rarely if ever made time for us. We were usually with mother and she never really talked to us either. I guess you could say my brothers and I raised each other."

"My mother and father were distant too. My mother hugged me once. It was yesterday."

"What hug? We never hugged. We never hugged, never kissed, never patted on the back, nothing. We hit each other, that's about it. I was lucky if mother or father ever gave me or my brothers a passing glance of approval." I was silent again for a moment. I wasn't sure I should say anything in response at all.

"Why were they always so tough on you guys?" Sören looked at the pit a moment with a thoughtful expression. I looked at him, waiting for an answer. Finally, he shrugged.

"It taught us to be strong and independent. All we had to rely on was ourselves. That's the point they wanted to get across, and that's what I believe in now."

We didn't talk anymore after that. I wasn't sure I wanted to talk anymore. Since we started talking, I noticed that he would have moments where he seemed relatively happy, and other times when he would go right back to the way he normally is. I don't think I could live with that for the rest of my life. And I certainly have no intention of raising children the way he was raised. My parents were distant and obviously his were too. I didn't want that for my children.

When he was done eating, he rested his plate on the floor and walked out of the tent to go do something else. When he was gone and I was done eating, I cleaned everything in a little bucket he had near the corner with water that he had in another container. I decided I'd ask Aleida where the river was so I could get more water when I was done. When everything was clean, I walked out of the tent and looked for Aleida and managed to get to her before I ran into Germaine. I knew I wouldn't like Germaine from the moment I met her. And she didn't seem to want to make an effort to like me either.

"Don't worry about getting water right now. Just take some of mine. We always get water in the morning. You'll have to come with us to get it, so just wait until then." I smiled and nodded.

"Thanks, Aleida."

"Think nothing of it. You're going to be my niece tomorrow."

"Of course I'll think about it. So far, you're the only person here who's really accepted me." Aleida waved her hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about that. They'll get used to you. That's all they need, time to get used to you. And as far as your future brothers are concerned, just ignore them. Those four have always been hostile. I'm not saying that means they can be mean to you, but I just want you to know why they're acting the way they are. It has nothing to do with you."

"Thanks for telling me that. I guess I'll see you in the morning, then." Aleida smiled and nodded her head.

"I look forward to it. You can return the container you use tomorrow." I smiled a little wider.

"I will. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Heidi. And don't worry. You'll be a wonderful wife."

"Thank you, Aleida." She shook her head.

"Please, you're family. Call me Aunty. That's what Sören calls me." I nodded my head.

"Thank you, Aunty." She grinned and I smiled back as I walked into her tent and took a small container and filed it with water before going back to the tent.

When I had that, I looked around the tent for something, anything, to do. Aleida had been busy with carving bone and I knew that could be tedious and needed a lot of attention, so I didn't want to distract her with mindless talk. I kept looking, hoping that there might be something for me to clean or organize, but there wasn't much. Sören appeared to be a really tidy, clean person, or he at least kept a clean house. I appreciated that, but at the same time, it left me with nothing to do. With little option, I decided to get some more food and get that ready for dinner. I wasn't sure when he would be back, but I would be prepared to start cooking if he was hungry.

I was already really cold, so I started up the pit and got the fire going, making sure not to let the flames get too high. As I was playing with the fire, I remembered something mother used to make all the time. Whenever father got a large amount of meat, mother would combine the different types and cook it and put in some water. I always thought it was tasty. I made a mental note to myself to try that one of these days. Certainly during the winter. That's when she always made it. There was nothing like a hot soup on a cold winter day.

Still left with nothing to do, I left the pit and went over to the pile of fur that made the bed and laid down. I was tired from today and wanted to take a nap. It was the best way for me to pass the time. I finally dozed off after finding the perfect position in the mass of fur. I woke up to the feeling of something nudging me. I groaned in protest and whatever was nudging me spoke.

"Heidi, get up." I turned my head from one side to the other and opened my eyes to see who it was. It was Sören.

"I'm sorry. I'll make dinner." Sören gave me a strange look.

"What dinner? It's morning. I had some dried meat. There's some on a plate for you too. And Aleida and the others are leaving to go to the river soon."

"Oh. I didn't know I slept so long."

"I figured you needed the sleep. We have a big night ahead of us. Once you guys get the water, you'll go to Auntie's tent and she'll fix the dress so it fits you better."

"Okay. Did you fix yourself some dinner?"

"I just had some dry meat. Don't worry about it. They're leaving soon so you better eat fast and get going." I nodded my head and forced myself out of bed and chewed on the dried meat he told me about before getting the large bucket and walking out of the house with it and making my way to Aleida's home.

"Heidi! Good you're awake." I smiled at Aleida as I walked to her.

"Yeah. Sören woke me up." Aleida smiled.

"Try to wake up before him from now on." I nodded.

"Yes, Aunty." She grinned wider for remembering her nickname and hugged me around my neck.

"Alright. Time to go to the river and get water. And you'll be taking a bath before we come home. And we'll stop at my home and fit you into your dress." I smiled.

"Thank you, Aunty. I probably look awful right now." Aleida shook her head.

"Absolutely not, Heidi. You look cute as a button. We just need to clean your hair. And we have a little paste that we put in your hair for a few minutes and wash it out. It makes your hair smell like flowers."

"Really?" She nodded.

"Yep. We only use it for special occasions and a wedding is definitely a special occasion." As she spoke, she lifted a large bucket onto her hip and I followed her as she walked over to a group of women that were waiting to go to the river.

As we made our way to the river, no one really talked to me. Aleida was mostly talking to Germaine. I could tell they were talking about me. Germaine looked annoyed and would glance back at me several times after Aleida said something. I overheard her say that she should be grateful to get another daughter. Of course, Germaine didn't see it that way. She simply thought I was too young and wasn't good enough. I didn't argue with her or try to defend myself. I think Aleida was already doing that. I couldn't stand the thought that after tonight, this woman would be my new mother.

It didn't take long to reach the river. Maybe a few minutes. All the women filled their buckets with water and made their way back to the village when they had all they wanted. Aleida told me to stay and take a bath and that the paste she told me about was resting right next to a tree that was a few feet away from the river. When I was alone, I took of my clothes and hung them over a branch and took the paste with me to the river's edge.

The water was blistering cold, but after a while, it started to feel okay. When I was used to the temperature of the water, I dipped my head down to get my hair wet and lathered it with the flowery paste. I could definitely smell lilacs and roses. There was another flower that I couldn't pinpoint. But it smelled wonderful. I wanted to leave it on forever. But as Aleida instructed, I only left it in for a few minutes before washing it all out of my hair. When I was clean, I dried myself off with some fabric Aleida left for me and got dressed before taking my bucket of water and walking back to the village. I passed Aleida and smiled and she smiled back.

"Come right back when you get that home, alright, Heidi." I nodded.

"I'll be there in a minute, Aunty." Aleida smiled and walked into her tent while I walked back to mine and placed the bucket of water where I'd last seen it. Sören wasn't home. I assumed he must be hunting.

I ran to Aleida's home and she quickly got to work on my dress. She tightened and used sharp bone to keep things in place and took it off me when she was done and began to sow. I helped her get it done so it would be ready for tonight and I tried it on again when she was done sewing. She made a few minor adjustments while I was wearing it and took it off me again when she was done.

"It fits you like a glove, Heidi. You'll be a beautiful bride." I smiled.

"Thanks for saying, Aunty." Aleida sensed that I wasn't as enthusiastic as one might assume a bride to be and sighed.

"I know this isn't exactly what you want, Heidi. But believe me, it's for the best. Sören's a good man and he'll be a good husband for you." I looked up at her again and she looked at me. "What's wrong?" I sighed.

"Before I left home, I asked mother what her and father's marriage was like. If they were in love."

"And what did she say?" I turned my attention away from her and to my hands that were rested in my lap.

"She didn't love him. She barely liked him. I always said I never wanted that. I always said that I wanted to marry a man that loved me and that I loved in return." Aleida looked at me with sad eyes a moment.

"I know. We all do."

"I thought you loved your husband." Aleida was quiet for a moment again.

"I respect him. And I'm very fond of him. He's a good man and he's given me two beautiful children. They're grown now, of course."

"But you aren't in love?" She sighed and shook her head.

"No. He's more like a friend than my lover. He's a wonderful companion and he makes me laugh, but there's something missing." She turned her attention back to me and smiled a little again. "But don't be so blue. You never know. You might learn to love Sören."

"How can I learn to love him?"

"I don't know, Heidi. But he'll be a wonderful husband and I know you'll make him a wonderful wife. You two might never love each other, but you might come to like each other. And that's better than a petty hatred for one another like Germaine and Kraus."

"They hate each other?" Aleida nodded.

"Always have, always will. How they tolerated each other enough to have four children is unfathomable to me. Germaine gives him dirty looks and Kraus hits and yells at her all the time. It's never quiet with them." I sighed.

"I miss my parents. They never argued in front of us." Aleida laughed a little.

"Neither did mine or Kraus'. Their violence towards one another is a freak accident if you ask me." I finally smiled a little.

"Those do happen." Aleida giggled to herself.

"I suppose they do." We laughed together for a few more minutes while Aleida finished my dress. When she was done, I stayed with her for a while until her husband came home.

He was a really tall man with the usual long hair and a beard. But he had an oddly kind face, like something you would rely on for comfort. Like most men in the village, he wore lay upon layer of fur to keep himself warm from the cold.

"Is this the bride?" Aleida nodded.

"Yes. This is Heidi. She's our new niece." The man smiled warmly and I smiled back.

"Welcome to the family, Heidi. I'm your uncle Steffen."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Steffen." Aleida smiled and gently swatted my arm.

"Now, we'll have none of that. He's your uncle, so you address him as such." I was confused a moment over what she meant, but I realized she meant no first names, and I simply smiled and looked at Steffen again.

"I'm sorry. It's a pleasure to meet you, Uncle." Steffen laughed a little.

"Likewise, Heidi. I'm sorry to have to kick you out, but you better go to Germaine's home. Aleida will meet you there in a minute with the dress."

I nodded my head respectably and walked out of the tent to Germaine's. When I got there, I patted on the skin door to get her attention and waited for Germaine to answer. I waited much longer than I think was necessary before she finally opened the door and answered me. But she didn't talk to me. She just pulled me into the tent and placed me in a certain spot. She looked out the tent, I assumed looking for Aleida. When she didn't see her, she rolled her eyes and went off to another part of the tent to do something else.

I didn't say a word and stood where she put me waiting for Aleida to arrive. In the mean time, I twiddled with my fingers and looked at them, avoiding talking to Germaine as much as possible. I didn't look up until I heard footsteps coming from outside and I smiled when Aleida let herself in and she smiled at me, holding the dress.

"What took you so damn long?" Germaine hissed and Aleida didn't lose her smile.

"Steffen wanted to talk to me about something important. Otto was playing in the woods and got a scrap, but he's alright now." I spoke when Aleida was looking at me.

"Who's Otto?"

"He's my grandson, my eldest son's boy. I'll be sure to introduce you two properly during the wedding." I smiled.

"That would be nice."

"Aleida, she's not here to socialize. She's here to marry Sören and pop out a few kids." Aleida rolled her eyes.

"She's your new daughter, Germaine. Why must you be so rude to her?"

"She's not good enough, that's why I must be so rude to her. I won't apologize for knowing that my son deserves better than a child for a wife."

"In case you haven't noticed, all the girls in the village that are Sören's age are already married. You have to marry a young girl."

"Young's one things. Lacking what a child needs is another thing entirely. Look at her. She has no breasts, no hips, she's a child."

"Maybe, but she'll grow up. And you weren't much older than her when you got married to Kraus."

"That's different. I was physically developed. I wasn't a beanpole."

"Shut up, Germaine. She won't be a beanpole forever. Now stop griping and let's get her dressed and ready. She has a wedding tonight."

I smiled at Aleida gratefully and she winked at me before walking over and helping me get into my dress. When I was dressed, Germaine and Aleida started working on my hair which was wavy and reached down my back. Aleida smiled while she worked on my hair.

"You have such lovely hair, Heidi." I smiled.

"Thank you, Aunty." Germaine gave me a weird look, then looked at Aleida and rolled her eyes and kept working.

When I was ready, I stayed at Germaine's home and helped her with a few things, both of us talking as minimally to each other as possible. As we were working, I heard a large group start to walk through the village. No one panicked about it, so I didn't say anything about it. But a minute or so after I heard the sound, Lord Heidbrier came in. I didn't analyze his appearance at first. But then I noticed a great deal of red. It wasn't just on his hands. It was on his face, his clothes, and it stained his hands. I'd never seen so much blood on a person. It seemed like such an excess of blood for just another day of hunting. When Lord Heidbrier looked at me, he smiled.

"You look perfect, Heidi. You make a stunning bride. I'm sure Sören will be thrilled when he sees you." I smiled politely and didn't speak. "You'll stay here until the ceremony. Just make yourself comfortable until we're ready for you." I nodded my head and Lord Heidbrier left the tent after relieving himself of his weapons.

As he said, I stayed with Germaine and kept helping her around the tent with whatever she told me she needed. A few minutes later, Lord Heidbrier was back and was clean and in clean clothes. He walked over to Germaine and whispered something to her in her ear and she nodded her head in response. She put down what she was doing and walked over to me and grabbed a hold of my hand.

"Come on. The ceremony's going to start soon." She pulled me with her out of the tent and led me to the center of the village that I remembered from yesterday where Lord Heidbrier announced to everyone who I was.

A woman I didn't know handed me a bouquet of daisies and lilacs and placed me at a random spot while people were crowding around. I felt someone coming towards me and looked up to see Sören. His face looked different from what it usually did. He didn't look like he didn't care or that he was bored. He actually looked……guilty. I stared at him questioningly, knowing I wouldn't get him to answer me since we were surrounded by a large crowd of spectators. I heard people walking up behind me and saw a group of women holding buckets and buckets of supplies, from food, to fur, to bone for weaponry, and already completed weapons. This must be my dowry. But I didn't recall my family giving this much. But then…..it clicked in my head and I looked at Sören with stunned eyes. When I realized what was wrong, he avoided eye contact with me.

"You didn't. Please tell me you didn't." He didn't look at me. He just turned his attention to whoever was walking up to us.

"My good people, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union between my youngest son, Sören, and our new member of society, Heidi."

The crowd surrounding us cheered with joy, but I wasn't listening to them. I was staring at Sören with a broken heart. He said he'd spoken to his father about this. I know he said there was no guarantee that he'd made a difference, but still. He was old enough to be one of the warriors in the village. He must have helped in destroying my home. Why else would he look so guilty?

"We've had our quarrels with her people, it's true. But she will be welcomed into our society as the wife of my successor. And now that Braun village is finally gone, we can take the land that is rightfully ours."

I stiffened when he spoke. I was about to drop my bouquet, but Sören grabbed both my hands and bouquet and held them in both his hands so my horror wouldn't be as evident. Not only was I horrified, I was outraged. They went back on their promise. I heard Lord Heidbrier promise my father that nothing would happen to them now that they had me as a gift. I started squeezing my hands, forgetting that Sören was still holding them. He squeezed mine really hard in return for only a moment, letting me know to loosen my grip.

"Marriage is a sacred thing. It's a powerful union that should be treated with the utmost respect." _Hypocrite._ "It's a gift from the gods above and I'm honored to stand before you all today to unite these youths in matrimony." Lord Heidbrier then turned his attention to Sören. "Sören. Heidi is giving herself to you as your wife and will devote the rest of her life to you. In return, you must be the strong one, the provider. You must swear to hunt, to fight for her, and devote your life and energy to her wellbeing and happiness." _Hypocrite!!_ "You must promise to honor and love her with all your being and be true to her as she will be true to you. Do you swear to do all the things I've instructed of you?" Sören was silent a moment and looked at me. I was still just looking at his hands and mine. Eventually, he nodded and answered, but his voice was monotone and distant.

"I swear to be the provider and protector. To fight for her and devote my life and energy to her wellbeing and happiness. To honor her and love her and be true to her as she will be to me. This I solemnly swear." Lord Heidbrier grinned, then turned his attention to me.

"Heidi. Sören is giving himself to you as your husband and will devote the rest of his life to you. In return, you must be the lover to thank him for his devotion and be a mother. You must love him and give him healthy children and take care of them and help him raise the children to become suitable warriors and members of society." _Hypocrite!!!!_ "You must promise to honor and love him with all your being and be true to him as he will be true to you. Do you swear to do all the things I've instructed of you?"

For a moment, I was dead silent. I finally looked up at Sören. He was staring at me with that same well hidden guilty frown. I started trembling, but not with happiness or giddiness. I was trembling because I was afraid. I didn't want to devote the rest of my life to a man that murdered my family. But saying no to him would mean my own life. I wasn't sure what to do. I was quiet long enough that Lord Heidbrier had to address the crowd with reassuring words.

"She's merely joyful, my people. Give the happy bride a moment to control her happiness." The crowd lost their looks of concern and replaced it with joyous anticipation while I looked back at my hands. Eventually, my silence became too much and Lord Heidbrier lost his patience. "Do you swear to do all the things I've instructed of you, Heidi?"

His tone was harsh, but subtle so that only me and Sören could pick up on it. Finally, Sören squeezed my hands and I looked up at him. His face was apologetic this time, but still well hidden to onlookers other than me. Then he mouthed the words, 'I'm sorry'. I released a breath I realized I was holding. I had no other choice in the matter. I hated myself for the realization, but I was far too selfish to die now. Even if I died standing up for myself. So I swallowed my hate and pride and said the words everyone was waiting for me to say.

"I swear. I swear to be a lover to him and be grateful. To give him strong, healthy children and help raise them to be strong. To honor and love him with all my being and be true to him as he will be true to me. This I solemnly swear." Lord Heidbrier finally smiled again and began to speak.

"You've heard it from their lips. They've sworn before witnesses and the gods that they will be happy in marriage and devote themselves to one another until death forces them apart. If anyone wishes to speak against this union, make yourself known, or forever hold your piece."

I hoped with all my heart that someone would speak. Anyone, I didn't care who. Even if Germaine did, insisting that I wasn't worthy of wedding her son. I didn't care. But a silence was about the crowd and I felt myself getting heavier and heavier as the burden of what I was allowing to happen started weighing on my shoulders. I felt tears beginning to form in my eyes, but I fought them back with all my might. When no one spoke, Lord Heidbrier ended the ceremony.

"Then by the power vested in me by the grace of the heavens and as your devoted leader, I now pronounce my son, Sören of Heidbrier and Heidi of Braun, husband and wife. Sören, you may now kiss your bride."

The crowd around us started clapping their hands and cheering our names. I never looked up until I felt Sören's hand on my chin and it pulled my face upward to look at him. He kept the kiss fast and light. No intimacy of any kind. It was a simple peck and he stood tall again, still holding my hands and releasing my chin. Lord Heidbrier announced to everyone to clear the way for the feast that had been prepared for tonight's event and everyone moved aside and took a seat in the large clearing in the middle of the village.

Of course, me and Sören were placed on a large fur blanket with the fire that was made closest to us, making us the center of attention. Lord Heidbrier made toasts and random comments about me and Sören on occasion that would earn a cheer from the crowd. The food was passed around to everyone so we all got a portion of the day's earnings and the food stolen from my village. I didn't touch my dinner. I couldn't even imagine eating. My stomach felt weak and my head was spinning from the reality of what happened. I hated myself in so many ways in that moment. I was a coward for allowing my fear to control my thinking and marry Sören. There was no way to justify my actions, not that I would dream of trying.

"Heidi." I was taken out of my daze when Sören said my name. I looked up at him, letting him know I was listening. "Try to eat something. We'll talk when we get to the tent."

I felt my blood boil. His voice was so calm and unfazed. I wanted so badly to hit him, but I settled for placing my plate of food on the ground in front of me and looking forward. Sören noticed this and rolled his eyes.

"Heidi, don't be difficult. I know you're mad, but try not to act like it. At least not in front of anyone else."

"You wouldn't want anyone to think your pretty little wife is unhappy, now would you?" My comment was fierce and sarcastic. He slammed his plate on the ground and I looked at him, startled by the sounds. His face terrified me. He was glaring at the plate, but it was really aimed at me. And it was the scariest face I'd ever seen.

"Father." I felt myself begin to tremble and I looked away. I didn't want to watch.

"What is it, Sören?" With a voice calm as water, Sören responded.

"I would like to turn in early if you don't mind, and be alone with my wife." I heard Lord Heidbrier laugh a little to himself.

"Of course son. How rude of me to not think about such a thing. Please, enjoy yourself. The rest of us will stay here and enjoy the rest of the feast."

"Thanks, father." Then, Sören grabbed a tight hold of my arm and pulled me to my feet and with him back to our tent while the people in the circle continued to eat to celebrate.

His grip on me was tight and inescapable. I felt my arm getting numb as he pulled me along. I was still shaking because I wasn't sure what he would do. The fact that I was about to get a beating was obvious, but I wasn't sure how long or how severe. He could finish after one slap or he might not be satisfied until he's beaten me within an inch of my life. I had no way of knowing. When we reached the tent, he opened the door and practically hurled me at the bed. I stayed down, hoping that would make it go by faster. I waited for something to happen, but the punches never came. I finally looked up and say Sören standing above me with a look of death.

"I never said I could make my father change his mind. But I did try. I won't tolerate such blatant disrespect from you that I don't deserve."

"You killed my family. You deserve every ounce of my contempt." I said this while keeping my face covered with only my eyes showing and lying on the ground in a defensive manner.

"I did no such thing. I helped gather all the supplies father wanted. In the time I was there, I only killed an old man and a rebellious little boy." My eyes widened. Rebellious little boy? He didn't…..

"Did he have brown hair, brown eyes and reach up to your hip?" Sören was silent a moment as he thought.

"What about it?" The pain in my chest became greater. He really had. Adalwulf. My little brother. He didn't deserve this. He was just a child eagerly awaiting becoming a man just like father.

"You killed Adalwulf."

"Who?"

"Adalwulf! My little brother, you killed him!" Even though I was screaming, he held his ground. I was shaking violently and my tears that I'd been holding back all night were flowing freely. I hated him. I would never forgive him for this. No matter how great a husband Aleida promised he would be, he would always be a monster in my eyes.

"That's what I do, Heidi. I was raised to be a fighter and to take what's rightfully mine."

"It wasn't yours to take. That land was ours. We found it and rested there fairly."

"My father saw it and wanted it. I can't help that. And I have no intention of questioning him. And I won't have you questioning me. I don't have to keep you."

"Fine. Don't keep me, then. Throw me away, just like any other person you see as nothing more than an animal. Beat me, rape me, kill me, do your worst." We were glaring at each other for a long time after that. He was speechless and I didn't want to talk anymore.

After several minutes of just glaring, he closed the distance between us and grabbed a hold of my hair and pulled me up so I was in a sitting position. My hands went to his in my hair, trying to lessen the pain. His other hand reached up and I closed my eyes, waiting for what was to come. But when moments passed and nothing happened, I opened my eyes and realized he wasn't looking at me anymore. He was looking at the ground breathing heavily.

What he did next took me completely by surprise. He forced my face to his and he kissed me. My eyes were wide the whole time. He forced his tongue passed my lips and trailed around. I tried pulling away, but the grip he hand on my head made it impossible. Eventually, he finally let go of me, but it was hardly gentle. He threw me to the ground as he released me and when I was down, he took a hold of my arms and held them behind my back and rested a great deal of his weight on top of me. I was having a hard time breathing now. Then he brought his lips to my ear and bit down. It was painful, but didn't draw blood.

"You remember your place, Heidi. You're my wife and you will honor me, regardless of your personal feelings and you will honor me in front of everyone and do as I say, when I say, without question. You may have a great deal of power over the townspeople now, but you're still below me and you always will be. Don't make me have to remind you of that again."

Finally, he let go of me and lifted his weight off me. When my arms were free, I took them away from my back and brought them up around my head taking in big gulps of air. He didn't leave like I was hoping he would. He simply rolled off me and stayed where he was next to me on the bed. When I'd breathed in enough air and I was finally beginning to feel a little stable, he took a hold of me again. But this time, it was simply his arm wrapping around me gently with his face resting against my hair.

"Please leave me alone." He shook his head.

"No." I didn't argue any further. I simply laid there and tried to breath. Then he tightened his hold on me in a way that made me think he was hugging me. "I'm sorry. I don't want our marriage to start like this."

"What does it matter? You don't love me." I was surprised I had the courage to talk to him after what had just happened.

"That's not the point. I don't want to be like my parents. I don't want to have the same relationship as my brothers have with their wives. They're all miserable and they hate each other. I want to be like Aunty and Uncle. They're happy."

"Throwing me against the wall isn't exactly a way to make a woman love you."

"I don't expect you to love me. I know you won't. But I do want you to respect me. Maybe even go so far as to think of me as a friend. A companion. Maybe we won't love each other, but we can still be happy."

"How can I be happy? You murdered my family."

"I said I'm sorry. That doesn't make up for anything and I know that. But there's nothing more I can do but tell you I'm sorry and ask you to forgive me. I'll get on my knees, kiss your feet, and beg if that's what it takes. But please."

"I never wanted what my parents had either. But that's not something I can control."

"It's something I can and will control. I don't want you to be unhappy. I want you to be happy. I want my brothers' wives to see you smile and envy you. I want my brothers to envy what I have, knowing that I'm a better man than they'll ever be because I'm doing something to make my wife happy."

"You're asking too much." He nodded.

"Maybe I am. But I'll make you a promise right here and now."

"What's that?"

"Anything you want, it's yours. Any object that catches your heart is yours for the taking. Simply ask." I shook my head.

"Bribing me won't earn my love or respect."

"Then tell me what will." I was quiet a moment. I wasn't sure what to say to him. I didn't want to give him what he wanted. Not after what he'd done. Instead of telling him that, I gave him an answer that was just as true.

"I don't know." He released a breath that he'd been holding in and tightened the grip for only a moment.

"I'll find a way. I swear I will." I didn't say another word and neither did he. He held me to his chest the whole night through. I finally fell asleep after laying awake staring at the wall thinking about my family.

When I was asleep, my dreams were filled with memories. No one would ever consider yelling at Adalwulf and getting swatted by mother a happy memory. But it was all I had left of them. The memories, good and bad, and I would take them and remember them happily. When I woke up, I was surprised to feel something warm around my waist. I opened my eyes and saw that it was an arm. I looked over my shoulder and saw Sören lying there, still asleep.

I looked at his face a moment and saw something that I didn't see when he was awake. He looked tormented. Heartbroken even. It was like looking at the face of a broken man who had no hope at all. Looking at him made me hurt all over. I couldn't believe it, but I felt immense pity for him. While I looked at his face, I did a great deal of thinking. I thought about Aleida and Steffen. She admitted that they weren't in love. But they looked like they were. When Steffen looked at Aleida, he would always smiled kindly and she would smile back. It wasn't awkward or painful. It was friendly and kind. The more I thought about it, the more appealing it became to me.

I wanted so badly to be happy, but the prospect seemed farfetched. How could I forgive him? How could I bury that and smile and him pretending that it didn't bother me? I couldn't. Plain and simple. While I was watching him, he suddenly opened his eyes and I gasped and jumped before calming back down. He lifted himself out of bed and walked over to the door and looked out, I suppose to estimate what time it was. The sun wouldn't be of good. I could already tell, even from this distance, that it was foggy outside. When he'd seen all he wanted, he closed the door and walked back over to me.

"Father and the others got plenty of meat for us. And they brought some fresh water, so you don't have to worry about getting any."

"Sören?" He looked up at me.

"What?" I took a deep breath and lifted myself out of bed and walked over to him. When I was close enough, I started looking at my hands and intertwined my fingers repeatedly in nervousness.

"Last night. You said you wanted to be like Aunty and Uncle." I simply nodded. "I don't want to be like your parents. Aunty told me all about them. I don't want that."

"Neither do I."

"I don't want to be like my parents either. I don't want our relationship to comprise of random glaring and never talking at all."

"Neither do I." I took a deep breath and finally looked up at him.

"I want to be more like Aunty and Uncle. Maybe not in love, but at least happy." For the first time since I'd seen him, Sören smiled at me. It was a sweet smile that made me think of a happy little boy that I think he never had a chance to be.

"I'll do whatever I can to make you happy, Heidi. I swear." I finally smiled too.

"Me too." After looking at each other with a smile for a moment, Sören took me in his arms in a hug and held me tightly. I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head against his chest.

I wasn't sure if I could ever forgive him. But at least I could put the past behind me and only look towards the future. I hoped that mother was wrong and that maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't be just a pretty thing that's meant to stay barefoot and pregnant. Maybe instead of a king that ruled my life, I would have a friend. A friend was certainly better than nothing at all. And I suddenly felt grateful to have a friend that promised to be there for me and to make me happy.

"Just promise me one thing."

"Yeah, Heidi?" I took a deep breath.

"Aunty tells me that Lord Heidbrier hits Germaine a lot." Sören was silent a moment.

"From time to time. I try not to notice."

"I know father used to do it to mother too. And I suspect your brothers do that too." He nodded.

"I've heard it going on."

"I was hoping……that you might never do that to me. I think I might think of you the way you want if you don't hit me." Sören laughed a little. Once again, it made me think of the child he never was able to be.

"I won't hurt a hair on your head." I smiled a little more and hugged him tighter.

"I think this might just work."

"I think so too."


	3. Heidbrier

**Heidbrier**

**Germania 983 b.c**

As time went on, I started becoming accustomed to Heidbrier. I still missed home and still refused to speak to Lord Heidbrier if I didn't need to. I would answer him when he spoke to me, but no more than that. Even after all this time, I hated him for what he did. I still didn't forgive Sören for it either, but I at least respected him. Sören knew what he'd done had hurt me and he knew he'd pay for that forever. But he did at least try to make up for it.

I never wanted to, but I realized I was beginning to rely on him. He would always talk to me about his day and ask about mine and he tried to make me laugh and I had come to greatly appreciate the effort and appreciated it even more when one of his jokes were funny. I knew that kind of stuff wasn't easy for him. The morning after we were married, I assumed, must have been the first time he'd smiled in a long time, let alone laughed.

Even now, Germaine made no effort to like me. She would speak to me whenever she came over to tell Sören something, but no more. When she spoke to me then, she only said hello, and it was only out of respect to Sören. I also avoided Sören's brothers as much as possible. Sometimes, they would give me suspicious stares or look at me like they were planning something and it always made me really nervous. Those looks only became stranger the longer I stayed. It wasn't long before I got slightly taller. That was only the summer after I'd come to Heidbrier. I didn't get any taller after that and it made me reach up to Sören's shoulder.

Two summers later, my chest started to grow too. It was very similar to the way my mother had looked. And my hips got wider too. It was a while before I myself noticed it. Everyone else noticed it immediately I'm sure. But it never really crossed my mind. Sören never said anything about it, so I didn't worry. One day, I was with Aleida at the river getting some water when she brought up Lord Heidbrier.

"Heidi, dear." I looked at her from the river.

"Yeah, Aunty." Aleida looked nervous and sighed.

"I've got some……aggravating, I guess you could say, news."

"What's wrong?" Aleida looked me over a moment then breathed before answering.

"Well, Heidi, since you've come to us, you've started to……oh how do I put this?........you've..grown. There we go. You've grown. And you've grown a great deal."

"Is there something wrong?" Aleida breathed deeply again.

"Well, when you came to us….let's be honest, you were a little girl. So, Kraus, Lord Heidbrier, wasn't too concerned with you not getting pregnant right away." I stiffened. Now I knew what she was talking about and now I was just as uncomfortable as her.

"He wants me and Sören to have a baby?" Aleida nodded.

"Yeah. I promise he's already addressing Sören about this. And I'm telling you now so as to avoid an uncomfortable conversation between you and Sören. I imagine you two haven't……coupled yet, am I right?" I shook my head.

"Never."

"That's what I thought. I mean, at least a few years ago, Sören was able to just tell Kraus that he wasn't physically attracted to you yet and it would take time before you two tried. But he can't use that excuse anymore. And Kraus isn't going to take, 'we don't want to have sex', as an answer." I sighed.

"But we don't. At least, I don't. And Sören never expressed any immediate desire to." Aleida shook her head.

"Sorry, honey, but that's not an excuse Kraus will take." I sighed again.

"Maybe we could tell him we've been trying but I still am not with child. He's already murdered my village. What more could he do to me?"

"Kill you?" I smiled a little.

"That wouldn't be so bad, Aunty."

"Now I'll have none of that talk, Heidi. Sören has proved to be a good husband to you, as I said he would and I've accepted you as my niece as has my husband and we all think the world of you. I won't have you talking about being happy to die."

"I'm sorry, Aunty." Aunty nodded her head and finally smiled again.

"Good. Now I've told you what Kraus is telling Sören. Hopefully the little conversation you two will be forced to have tonight will be slightly less uncomfortable."

I smiled and nodded my head, thanking Aleida for her help. Aleida ordered me, sweetly of course, to stay at the river and take a bath before going home. I did as she said and cleaned myself as thoroughly as possible before going home. When I got back, Sören still wasn't home. Not surprising, I suppose. They should've been hunting right now. The hot summer sun always weighed heavily on our meats, so it was wise to get as much as possible to make sure the food we ate wasn't bad.

When I was home, I started doing some tidying up to pass the time. I wasn't sure how many people in the village knew about Lord Heidbrier and his need for another heir and I didn't plan to take criticism or be teased about it. But of course, Sören's brothers would jump at the chance to tease me, so shortly after I got home, I heard someone enter my tent and looked over my shoulder to see Kilian and Isidor walk in with big smirks on their faces.

"Did Sören give you guys permission to come in?" Kilian raised an eyebrow at me and Isidor laughed a little.

"That's hardly a way for you to talk to us."

"I'm only asking because I know Sören doesn't usually like it when you guys let yourselves in. I'm merely making sure no one gets in trouble." Kilian shrugged.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him. He's still talking to father, so we've got time." I sighed.

"In that case, what did you come over to talk about?" Isidor laughed again and Kilian responded.

"Do we need a reason to talk to our dear sister?" I looked at both of them cautiously a moment. Neither of them had anything in their hands, so that was a bit of a relief. But even without weapons, they could be up to something for all I know. It wasn't beyond them to tease and pester me when Sören was unavailable.

"I suppose not." Isidor grinned.

"That's more like it." Then Isidor and Kilian took seats at the pit across from me and Isidor never lost his grin. "So, I hear father's getting upset with you and Sören." I tried to not let myself look annoyed with them. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

"He just wants a grandchild is all. Nothing to be alarmed about." Kilian shrugged and spoke next.

"Normally no. But here's the thing. You and Sören have been married for a long time now. We just passed the seventh winter of your marriage if I recall correctly." Isidor nodded.

"That's certainly more than enough time to have a child. And after so long without results, you can only assume that you're either incapable of having children, or he's incapable, or you're simply not trying. You can understand why father would be concerned." I sighed.

"I understand his concerns, yes. But I can assure you that there's nothing to be worried about. I'm sure Sören and I will have a child soon if that will make Lord Heidbrier happy." Kilian shook his head.

"Why are you so formal? Call him father, Heidi. He calls you daughter after all." I was silent. I didn't want to tell them the real reason. I would never think of Lord Heidbrier as a father and refused to address him as such.

"It slips my mind, I'm afraid." Isidor laughed a little.

"I understand. A woman's mind is so fleeting at times." Then Kilian spoke.

"But, of course, even your dense, female brain can remember to address a person as they've asked you to." I shrugged.

"Like you said. A woman's mind is fleeting." They looked a little aggravated after I said that. I held back a smile, proud of myself for being able to stand my ground against them.

"True. Try to remember to call him father from now on. It would make him very happy if you did." I smiled at them, making it look sincere, even if it wasn't.

"I will certainly try." They both nodded their heads at me. I then heard the door to our tent being moved aside and I smiled in relief when Sören came in. he immediately looked at his brothers and wasn't pleased to see them.

"I never said you could come in here." Kilian and Isidor stood from their spots, Isidor taking on the role of speaker.

"We shouldn't need your permission, runt. But we apologize for coming at a bad time. We know you and your wife have a lot to talk about." I saw Isidor wink and Sören kept staring him down.

"That's true, we do have a lot to talk about. So if you would kindly get the fuck out of my house, I would like to start said conversation with my wife."

Kilian and Isidor laughed a little and nodded their heads before leaving. When they were gone, Sören closed the door and walked over to the fire pit and took a seat next to me. He didn't say anything at first. I could understand why. Even though I had hard feelings about what happened with my family, Sören and I had become friends. But we certainly didn't think of each other in a romantic sense, even after all these years. I think the idea of doing such a thing seemed odd and out of place. When he finally spoke, he was composed, though I'm sure it took everything in him to be that way.

"Aunty already told you, didn't she?" I nodded my head.

"Yeah, she told me." Sören breathed out and nodded his head. "So….does that mean we're going to start….trying?" Sören sighed too.

"We have to. If I try and claim that we can't seem to get pregnant, he just get mad and make me try with someone else. In truth, I'd rather not do that." I smiled.

"I understand." We sat there in silence a moment, neither of us looking at each other. I finally spoke with as calm a voice as I could do. "So……..when should we start?" I saw Sören's cheeks turn a little red. Mine did too. This was so strange.

"As soon as possible I guess. Maybe tonight."

"That should work."

We didn't say anything more after that. The atmosphere was really awkward and uncomfortable as it was. Neither of us wanted to make it worse by trying to talk to each other. Sören left to do something else while I stayed and cleaned a few things and got ready to make dinner. I did as much work as I could to keep my mind off tonight. In plain truth, I had no idea what we'd be doing. All I knew was that it was a little more intimate than I wanted to be. I was hoping he would at least know what he was doing so he could do most of the work.

Sören didn't come home until the sun had already set and dinner had been ready for a long time. When he came back, he went straight for his food, not saying a word to me. I didn't say anything to him either. We sat at the pit in silence eating our dinner, which wasn't as hot as I would like because of having to wait so long. When we were finished eating, I took the plates and cleaned them while Sören went straight to bed.

"Heidi." I looked at Sören when he called my name. He was laying in bed staring at the top with his hands behind his head.

"Yes, Sören?" He took a deep breath before answering me.

"We better start. Come to bed as soon as you're done, alright?" I sighed a little to myself, trying to stay calm, and nodded my head.

"I'll be there in a minute."

I started working a little more slowly after that. I was hoping to prolong having to go over there as much as possible. I think he was relieved about that. But when I was done with everything, I took a deep breath and walked over to bed and laid down next to him. He didn't pull me closer to him or hold me or try to make any form of contact with me. He just sat there and stared at the ceiling. I didn't disturb him. When he finally spoke, he was forcing composure I could tell. He was just as uncomfortable as I was.

"Okay. Let's just do it and get this over with." I nodded.

"Do you know how to do this?" He nodded. "Have you done this before?" He nodded again.

"Twice. Though I didn't have much of a relationship with either of them like I have with you. So it wasn't weird like it is now."

"I know what you mean. So how does this work?" He took in a deep breath, then breathed out.

"No one ever explained this to you?" I shook my head. Then he breathed out again, but it was even more uncomfortable. "I don't really know how to explain this to you. I know it'll hurt the first time, but that's about all I can tell you without getting into gory details."

"Then let's just do it. I won't ask questions."

"That sounds like a good idea."

With that, Sören breathed out and lifted himself in a sitting position before turning and resting his hands on either side of my face. I closed my eyes when he started moving. Looking at him only made the situation more awkward. I heard him move so our chests were closer together and his lips were suddenly on mine. The kiss was shy and unsure. I lifted my head up slightly to encourage him not to be shy. That would only make this take longer.

When I lifted my head up a little, he took the opportunity to make the kiss a little more intimate and took my bottom lip in his mouth. One of his hands went to my chest and squeezed gently as he did so. I realized the sensation wasn't unpleasant. It was kind of nice. I brought my hands up and rested them on his elbows as he kissed me. Then I brought my hands to his chest because he decided to rest his weight on his right elbow. The hand on my chest started moving further down until it reached my leg and forced it to bend and rest against his hip.

The action surprised me and made me gasp. That's when I felt his tongue pass through my lips and started trailing around my teeth and the roof of my mouth. Once again, the action wasn't unpleasant. It made me want to hold him closer. So I brought my arms up and wrapped them around his neck. This made him move slightly closer to me and put a little more of his weight on me. This didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. It was still strange, but not so horrible that I couldn't bare it.

The hand that was on my leg trailed up until it moved my dress aside and he rested all his weight on my lower body. Then he took his lips from mine and kissed my neck. His kisses trailed down further and stopped only when they reached the neckline of my dress. I breathed in slowly as he kissed me. I think I was even smiling, if only just a little.

"Heidi."

"Yes, Sören?" In response, I heard fabric being moved, but my eyes were still closed. I didn't look up until he gave me one small kiss and started talking.

"Hold onto me. It'll make it hurt a little less." I nodded my head and he kissed me one last time before I did as he said and held onto him even tighter with both of my legs up cradling his hips.

Without a single warning, he moved forward and I felt something enter me. It wasn't so bad at first. But it was no time before I felt like I'd been stabbed. I gasped from the pain and cried a little bit. Sören rested his head on my shoulder and kissed my neck, trying to sooth me I imagine. I felt a tear escape my eye and Sören brushed it away.

"It's alright, Heidi. The pain will go away soon. Just give it a moment." I couldn't accomplish anymore than a nod of acknowledgement that I'd heard him.

I breathed in and out slowly trying to make the pain subside. Sören was still, waiting for me to adjust to what we were doing. I held on tightly the whole time I felt the pain. It ebbed the feeling a bit. Eventually, the pain was finally starting to go away and my grip on him loosened to a more comfortable hold. Even then, he still waited for me. Finally, I took in a deep breath and nodded my head.

"Okay. It doesn't hurt anymore."

"Alright. Let's try to stay quiet. I don't want to disturb anyone." Once again, I only nodded, letting him know that I'd heard what he said.

Then he began to move. It was a simple movement that was repetitive and otherwise, uneventful. But it was really nice. It was uncomfortable, but in an odd way, that's what made it feel good in the first place. Sören kept his face buried in my shoulder the whole time he was moving. I brought my hands to his hair and held on, not sure what else there was to do. The more he moved, the more the sensation was increasing in vitality. I was biting down of my lip, trying to remain as silent as I possibly could while he moved. He did the same by grinding his lips onto my neck and sucking.

It wasn't long before I felt like I was floating. I couldn't seem to think anymore. I didn't see the point in thinking at the moment nor did I really want to. After several minutes, he picked up the pace even further and what few thoughts I had were gone. All I could do was feel what was happening. After a time, I felt my body start to tighten and it was maddening, but it still felt lovely. Sören's hold on me began to tighten to an almost uncomfortable extent and his breathing was getting heavier. I noticed mine was too. Eventually, the tightening in my stomach snapped and the feeling made me gasp in a harsh breath. Sören groaned into my neck and I felt something else inside me.

He stayed where he was for a moment breathing heavily, then starting to calm. My breathing pattern matched his. His lips finally left my neck and he licked that spot once before taking himself off me completely and landing on his back right next to me. My eyes were still fused shut with my hands rested above my head after falling from his shoulders. Moments passed in silence. Only the sound of our breathing filled the air and the sound of fabric being put back into place. I didn't open my eyes until he spoke.

"That wasn't so bad." I smiled a little and nodded my head.

"I imagined it would've been." He laughed a little.

"It doesn't help that you didn't really know what we were doing I guess."

"Certainly not." He smiled a little then looked at me from the ceiling with that same kind smile on his face.

"Go to Aunty tomorrow and ask her what we should expect. I may know how to make a baby, but I have no idea what the process is." I nodded.

"I know that at times, it's uncomfortable." Sören laughed a little.

"Not surprising since you're getting a huge bump in a short period of time." I smiled and nodded. Then Sören scooted closer to me and took me into his arms. My hands rested against his chest while his chin took a spot on top of my head. Then he rolled so I was on top. "Sleep tight, Heidi. Remember to talk to Aunty tomorrow." I nodded.

"Yes, Sören. Good night."

We both fell asleep a little less awkwardly than I thought we would. The next morning when I woke up, like always, Sören wasn't there. He always left early to go hunting. But something was out of the ordinary. This time, there was a large collection of tiny white flowers. Baby's Breath. A smiled and lifted myself out of bed and took the baby's breath. It was supposed to be good luck to give a woman baby's breath if she wanted to get pregnant. And like usual, Sören left out some dried meat for breakfast, so I had some before getting the large bucket and taking it with me to the river to get water. When I saw Aleida, she smiled at me and I smiled back.

"You look to be in a good mood this morning." I smiled and blushed a little.

"Sören put baby's breath next to our bed. I thought it was a sweet gesture." Aleida raised her eyes in surprise.

"He did, did he?" I nodded. "Well, that is sweet of him. Last night must not have been as bad as you thought it would be." I shook my head.

"Not at all. It hurt at first, but once it stopped hurting, it was okay. He wanted me to ask you what we should expect. And I think he wants to know how long it'll be before we know I'm pregnant." Aleida shrugged.

"Every woman is different, Heidi. For me, I started getting sick when I was with child. Germaine felt like she was always hungry and would crave dried meat all the time. Other women never even knew they were pregnant until they saw a little bump that wasn't there before." I sighed.

"So there's no way of knowing for sure until I see a bump?" Aleida looked guilty as she smiled.

"For the most part, I'm afraid."

"Well that's not good." Aleida laughed a little at the tone in my voice.

"Don't worry, Heidi. Just keep trying until you know for sure. At least if you two are having sex, you know you're trying." I smiled a little and followed after Aleida to the river.

Once we all had the water we needed, I went home and started cleaning around the house. I kept the baby's breath on the bed for good luck. Later in the day, I made a trip to Germaine's house to get something Sören had wanted. She handed me a large pile of fur and kicked me out. I smiled when I realized it was rabbit's fur. White. When I got home, I resisted the urge to do anything with it. I wasn't sure what he wanted me to do with it, exactly. And it wasn't quite cold enough outside to need fur. If anything, it was a comfortable temperature with the sun shining brightly in the sky.

When everything was done and I had nothing left to do, I went to Aleida's tent and spent most of the day with her. Steffen was out for the day like the men usually were, so it was just her and me. I helped her out with a few things and we talked about things in general. Then she asked me a question that took me off guard a bit.

"So, Heidi. Have you and Sören talked much about children since last night?" I was silent a moment before finally shaking my head.

"No, not really. He just told me to ask you what to expect." Aleida smiled.

"That's a shame. You two need to talk a little more about it. There's nothing more difficult than bringing a child into this world and having no idea what you're doing or what to name them." I smiled and nodded.

"You're right as always, Aunty. What do you think we should name the baby?" Aleida shook her head.

"Oh no, that's between you and Sören. I convinced Kraus not to name any of his children after him because it was unneeded confusion and he still hates me for it."

"It's not your fault he listened to you." Aleida laughed to herself and nodded.

"Very true. But I'm only a short but younger than him. We grew up together and we were a little closer than the rest of our siblings, so he takes my opinions more into consideration. Well, I should say he used to. Now, he tends to do whatever the hell he wants with little to no input from me or anyone else."

"Why would that be?" Aleida shrugged.

"Who knows? My guess is that he felt like he needed to be independent after father died and he took over as Lord. Falk was born a short time before our father died."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Aleida's smile never faltered. It never ceased to amaze me that she always seemed to be smiling.

"He lived a long life and was a good father and husband. That's all any child can really hope for from a parent. I only wish he'd lived long enough to see his grandchildren. I think Sören's brothers might not have been so cruel to him growing up if father had been around. He never tolerated violence like that between brothers."

"I wish I could've met him." Aleida giggled.

"Me too, Heidi. He would've adored you."

I smiled a little more and tried to picture Sören's grandfather. He must've been a big guy, just like his other relatives. The only thing that made Sören look any less frightening compared to his family was the fact that he had no beard and his hair was short. A few hours later, I heard the tent door open and looked over to see Steffen. Sören was standing close behind him and smiled at me as I did to him and Steffen.

"Welcome home, Steffen. How did hunting go today?"

"Nothing new. We caught a few deer like usual. I wasn't able to find many white rabbits. Three was the most I caught. But I'll look again tomorrow." Aleida smiled at Steffen.

"Thank you, Steffen." Then Steffen looked at me and smiled kindly again.

"Hello, Heidi. Have you been here all day?" I shrugged.

"More or less. I hope I'm not being a bother." Steffen laughed and shook his head.

"You're never a bother, Heidi. It's always a pleasure to have you here." He took off some of his weaponry as did Sören and walked over to the pit with me and Aleida and sat next to her. Sören took a spot next to me. "By the way, Heidi, my wife tells me you and Sören are planning to have a baby soon." Sören smiled and I smiled a little too.

"That's the plan. It seems like the right time." Steffen nodded.

"And it would be nice to get Kraus off your back I imagine. He's so pushy at times." I remained silent and let Sören answer to that statement.

"That's father I suppose. He just wants to make sure that I go into Lordship with a ready heir is all." Steffen nodded.

"It's always good to have one ready. You never know what might happen to you later." We both nodded and smiled a little strangely before we started eating the dinner me and Aleida made.

After dinner, Sören and I said goodbye and went back to the tent. We didn't talk on the way home. It was just a comfortable silence. When we got back, I walked over to the rabbit fur and held a little of it up so he knew what I was bringing to attention.

"Is there anything specifically you want me to do with these?" He smiled a little and looked away a moment.

"That's a gift from mother to use to make the baby's blanket. And she said that having rabbit fur in our tent would be good luck too, rabbits being as fertile as they are." I laughed a little at his joke.

"That's true. So I can start working on that whenever?" He nodded.

"Yeah, start whenever. If you want to wait until we know you're pregnant, that's alright too."

"I'll start it tomorrow. The sooner we have it done, the better. It's better to be over prepared than not at all." He nodded.

"True." Sören and I were quiet again. I decided to move the fur to another spot to give myself something to do. I heard Sören start walking away to another part of the tent. Probably to bed. "Did you like the baby's breath?" I looked at him when I put everything down and saw him standing next to the bed and looking at the flowers.

"Yes, I did. That was very sweet of you, thank you." He shook his head.

"You don't need to thank me. If anything, I should be thanking you." I gave him a surprised looked. He noticed and smiled a little. "Is it so strange that I would want to thank you?" I shook my head.

"No, not at all. I just don't know what there is to thank me for." He smiled wider and walked over to me. He spoke when he was standing right in front of me.

"There's a lot for me to thank you for. The day of our wedding, I played a part in the death of your family. But despite that, you gave me a chance and didn't give me shit for it. You didn't deserve that and I would've understood if you were a massive bitch about it, but you weren't. And not only did you not give me a hard time, you became something I never imagined you would want to be. You were a kind, giving wife. I don't deserve it."

"You've been good to me, too. I thought getting married to you would mean I'd be miserable for the rest of my life. But instead, I've come to like being married to you. You're a much better husband than other men I've seen and I'm grateful for your kindness." He smiled sincerely.

"I was nervous about last night. I thought you would be mortified. But you weren't, or you didn't show it at least. It was like you really didn't mind." I shook my head.

"I did at first. But it was nice after I got used to it. And once the pain went away, it was actually really lovely." He grinned then.

"Was it?" I nodded. He closed the distance between us and took me up into a hug.

"Thanks for the boost. It made my day." I smiled.

"Any time, Sören. And Aunty asked me something and we might want to talk about it."

"And what did Aunty ask you that we need to talk about?"

"She asked if we'd decided on what to name the baby." Sören smiled and rolled his eyes.

"She's getting ahead of herself. We don't even know if you're pregnant yet. It's a bit soon to start thinking of names." I nodded.

"Can I make a request, though?" He nodded.

"What's your request?" I looked at him a moment before I took a deep breath. I wasn't sure how he'd respond to this suggestion.

"If, when I get pregnant, we have a son, let's not name him after any of your relatives. Steffen, maybe, but that's it." Sören laughed a little and shook his head.

"Don't worry. I don't like anyone in my family enough to want to name my child after any of them. Except for Steffen and Aleida."

"Actually, for a boy, I thought it might be nice to name him Adalwulf. After my brother." He lost a little of his smile, but he still looked kind and sincere.

"Alright. I owe you that at least. What if it's a girl? What was your mother's name?"

"Edith." He didn't seem to like the name. He scrunched his face ever so slightly. "I was never crazy about the name either." Sören nodded and was silent, thoughtful, for a moment. When he spoke, he was grinning.

"How about Zoë?" I smiled the moment I heard the name.

"I like it." He smiled back.

"Me too."

When all that was said, Sören started walking to bed with me still in his arms. When we reached the mass of fur, he lowered us both down and began to kiss me again. We slept together that night and it was better than before. I wasn't scared this time and I knew what we were doing. As Aleida said, as long as we're having sex, at least we know we're trying.

So that's what we did. We kept trying. After a while, it seemed like more of something we really wanted to do as opposed to something we had to do. After a while of trying, Lord Heidbrier was getting impatient, but Sören always kept him at bay and never made me have to deal with him. He knew that I wasn't fond of his father and never tried to make me get along with him. So I was very grateful for that.

Several days later into the fall, Sören and I were sitting together at the pit eating dinner together. We weren't talking much at the moment. He'd been out all day hunting and was exhausted. Since it was fall, it was starting to get harder to find small game and anything larger were usually scattered around. He'd managed to get one deer today, which was an oddly low number. But I'd already started drying out the meat he'd hunted over the summer, so starving to death or anything of that nature was far from anything we needed to worry about. When he was done with dinner, he took his plate to the bucket where I cleaned dishes and smiled.

"Thanks for dinner, Heidi."

"Did you like it? It's a soup my mother usually made during the winter. I wanted to wait until we had enough variety of meat to make it." He nodded.

"It was delicious, thank you." He walked over and kissed my head. "I'm going to bed. I'm tired."

"Okay. I'll come to bed when I'm done cleaning." He smiled and walked over to bed and I finished my dinner while he started falling asleep.

When all the dishes were cleaned and the fire pit was put out, I went to bed and scooted under the covers with Sören. He turned over to face me and brought me a little closer to him to keep me warm. He'd started doing that years ago and I always found it very comforting. I was about to fall asleep when I felt Sören stir and it made me come back to consciousness.

"What is that?" I opened my eyes to look at him. He was staring down at my stomach.

"What's what?" He took a hold of my hand and brought it to my stomach where his eyes were looking.

"That." He held my hand over my stomach and I felt something I hadn't noticed before. It was a little bump. Then I felt something move and my eyes widened and I looked at Sören. "You know what that is?" I nodded.

"I think I'm pregnant." Sören's eyes widened too and then he forced my dress up so he could see the bump more clearly. When it was in plain sight, he put his hand back and felt it for a moment. At first, his hands were cold, but they warmed up after a minute of his hand touching my stomach. Then he smiled. It was the most beautiful smile I'd seen him show. And with that same smile, he looked up at me.

"You are. You're really pregnant." I smiled wider and we hugged tightly, his hand never leaving the bump. "We can finally get my father off our backs." I nodded.

"That's definitely a bonus."

"How long do you think it's been?"

"I don't know. This is the first time I've ever noticed it."

"Don't worry. Father will assign someone to keep an eye on you once I tell him." I gave him a weird look.

"Keep an eye on me?" Sören nodded.

"Yeah. Whenever a woman gets pregnant in our village, we have a man look over them and monitor how well the baby and the mother are doing. That's why women in my village usually live through childbirth. There's always someone looking over them making sure there aren't any complications."

"Oh. You mean like a medicine man?"

"More or less. We have a total of four in this village. I'm going to try and get Alphonse. He's never lost a woman and he's been doing this for………..since my father and mother had Falk."

"How much older than you is Falk?"

"He was already becoming a man by the time I was born, actually. He was already growing a beard by the time I was born, or so mother says."

"That's quite an age difference. What about Isidor and Kilian?"

"All my older brothers were close together. She'd been pregnant every summer."

"Wow. So you were an unexpected addition?" Sören smiled and nodded.

"Very unexpected. And since I'm taking over after father despite my young age, my brothers resent me for it. They've been beating me up all my life."

"Well, they won't be beating up this child. And neither will those nieces and nephews of yours either." Sören laughed and nodded his head in agreement. His nieces and nephews were awful little children. Yet more family members of his that I avoided as much as possible.

"Not at all."

"Good." We laughed a moment before he kissed the top of my head and hugged me closer.

"Thanks for making this a good day, Heidi." I nodded.

"Happy to do it."

Sören had a quick laugh under his breath and that was the end of the conversation. We fell asleep like that and I woke up to another bouquet of baby's breath flowers. They were the last ones I would see for the season I was sure. Like always, he wasn't home when I woke up. But there was someone there that I'd seen a few times before but had never spoken to. When he looked over and saw that I was awake, he walked over to me and sat next to the bed. He was an elderly man with a beard whiter than snow and a balding head with dark wolf fur.

"Good, you're awake. I'm Alphonse and I'll be your doctor throughout your pregnancy."

"Nice to meet you, Alphonse." He smiled, then moved to the end of the bed.

"Alright, let's get down to business. Lift your dress." My eyes widened.

"I beg your pardon?" Alphonse sighed.

"I need to look at the bump to determine how far along you are." I lost the horrified look and breathed out.

"Oh. Sure." I did as he said and lifted my dress so that my bump was visible. When it was, he scooted a little closer and started touching the bump and looked deep in concentration.

"Have you been feeling nauseous of hungrier over the past few days?" I shook my head.

"No. I haven't felt any different."

"I see. You're one of those lucky women. Well, judging by the size of the bump, I'd guess you got pregnant early on in the summer. So I'd expect the baby around spring. And I wouldn't expect more than one."

"Is there any way you could tell if it's a boy or a girl?" He shook his head.

"Not yet. It's too soon. I'll know around winter. A woman tends to carry low when she's carrying a boy. Now stand up a moment so I can listen for a heartbeat."

"Oh, sure." I stood up and kept holding my dress. When I was standing, Alphonse rested his ear against the bump.

"Now hold your breath a moment." I was reluctant to, but I held my breath and waited for him to finish what he was doing. I finally breathed again when he started talking. "I hear the heartbeat. So the baby's alright so far."

"That's good news." He nodded.

"Okay, I've done all I need to do for today. I'll come back in a few days and check on you again."

"Thank you, sir."

"Anything for Kraus' son." With that, he made his way out of the tent and as he left, Aleida came in with the large bucket I hadn't even noticed was missing.

"I hear you're pregnant." I smiled and Aleida giggled. "I can tell. You've got that glow. Do you mind if I feel the bump?" I nodded.

"Sure. Have at it." Aleida giggled and put the bucket in its usual corner before walking over to me and putting her hand on my bump. She felt around a moment and smiled.

"Well, congratulations Heidi. When did Alphonse say we could expect the baby?"

"He said spring was a good guess."

"Probably. I'll bet you got pregnant the night you and Sören started trying. That's how it was with me and Steffen. It didn't take much to get me pregnant."

"What's it like having a baby?" Aleida gave me a guilty look.

"The process, though happy because you're having a baby, is really uncomfortable. You start to feel heavy, your ankles swell, your back hurts. And that's just the months you carry the baby. Having the baby is a whole other pain all together." I gulped a little.

"How bad is it?" Aleida sighed.

"Well, Heidi. Try to picture yourself swallowing a whole deer in one gulp, but instead of swallowing it, it's going out the other way. And most of the pain is in your back." I looked at Aleida for a minute, just blinking. Eventually, I spoke again.

"Is there any way to make it hurt less?"

"Nope. And believe me, there isn't a woman in this village that hasn't attempted to find something or a combination of things that would numb her. And no one's found anything. One woman put herself in a coma for a year, but that's a little more extreme than I think is necessary."

"So it's a painful experience and there's nothing I can do about it?" Aleida nodded.

"That's about the gist of it, yeah."

"But I don't want it to hurt." Aleida shrugged.

"You can't always get what you want I'm afraid, Heidi." I sighed.

"I suppose not."

To my delight, I found out that when a woman was pregnant in this village, they weren't expected to do much. I would make dinner, but nothing more than that. I'd already started the blanket of rabbit fur and knew I would be done with it by the time the baby was born. Sören was thrilled when he got home. He'd evidently spoken to Alphonse while he was out and had gotten the good news. Lord Heidbrier was happy too. I didn't really care what he thought, but I knew Sören did, so I was glad the acknowledgement was something he was happy to get. Of course, Lord Heidbrier was hoping that we'd have a boy. I didn't care what it was as long as the baby was healthy.

"So what did you think of Alphonse?" Sören asked me while we were eating dinner.

"He reminded me of father time." Sören laughed to himself and shook his head.

"Let's keep that comment between you and me, okay?" I nodded.

"Alright. He'll never hear about it."

"Good. The last thing we want is for him to be offended and refuse to serve us." We shared another laugh and talked a little more while eating dinner.

As Alphonse promised, he was over at my home every week checking on my progress. It wasn't long before the bump started getting really big. One night in winter, while the meat was cooking in the water, I had my dress up just staring at my stomach. It was getting huge. And I was only half way through. Sören came in and was looking at me strangely a moment while I kept looking at my stomach, but I didn't look at him.

"Heidi, what are you doing?"

"Do you think I look fat?" Sören laughed a little and shook his head.

"You do not look fat. You're pregnant, Heidi. It's two completely different things."

"But I'm huge. I can't fit in any of my dresses anymore."

"That's why Aunty lent you maternity dresses. Once you have the baby, then you can go back to your old clothes, no harm done."

"Still." Sören smiled and shook his head at me before he went behind me and hugged me.

"You're still beautiful as ever Heidi. And I hope the baby looks like you." I smiled shyly.

"How kind of you to say." Sören rubbed my tummy affectionately before letting go and taking a seat next to me at the pit and waited for dinner to be ready.

By the end of winter, I was feeling all the discomfort that Aleida had warned me about. As she warned, I was happy to have a baby, but I wanted so badly for the process to be over. When the snow started melting, Alphonse told me to stay in bed for the rest of my pregnancy and not get up until he said otherwise. I wasn't sure what to think about that. I was already doing as little as possible on his orders and it was driving me mad with boredom. Now he was telling me to stay in bed for the rest of my pregnancy. I wasn't sure what good that would do me or the baby, but instead of arguing, I did as he said.

Aleida and Steffen came to our house every day since then. Aleida made dinner and we'd all eat together around the bed. It was nice having family around, but was the extent of all the good that came with that last few months. One day, Sören and Steffen came home early and went straight to our place. Aleida came over and we all talked for a while before she started dinner. She rehydrated the venison and there was plenty of food to go around. She was even nice enough to clean all the dishes, even when I tried to insist that she let me do it. And after dinner, we would always talk some more before Aleida and Steffen went home. But this night, as we were talking after dinner, I started feeling really uncomfortable.

"Heidi, are you alright?" Aleida asked me. I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just felt a pain for a moment."

"Where did you feel it?" I noticed that Aleida's tone was suddenly urgent, and that made me nervous.

"In my stomach." Steffen appeared to know immediately what was going on and stood up, grabbing Sören and leaving the tent. When they were gone, Aleida pulled me to my feet and led me around the tent to walk. "What's the matter?"

"I think you're going into labor. I'm hoping walking around will help make your water break. But I'm going to warn you, Heidi, once your water breaks, the pain will be horrible. But try to remember that it will be over soon. Just keep remembering that." I nodded my head.

"Okay."

Aleida held my hand and walked around the tent with me for a minute before Alphonse came into the tent, telling Steffen and Sören to stay out of the tent. Then he told Aleida to leave as another woman that I recognized at Alphonse's wife came in. She took Aleida's place and took my hand to walk around the tent with me until my water finally broke. When it did, it just felt like I was wetting myself and I felt really embarrassed. But that went to the back of my mind and the least of my worries when I felt the pain that came shortly afterwards.

"Alphonse, her water broke." I hardly heard his wife when she spoke. I was in too much sudden pain. Alphonse ordered her to bring me to bed and helped me lay down.

But Alphonse didn't get started right away like I would've hoped. All he did was sit at the end of my bed and tell his wife to get some water and put it over the fire until it was warm. I started yelling at him and asking him why he was just sitting there. He told me to stop disturbing the neighbors and that he was waiting for the right time for me to start pushing. I was okay with that response at first, but then I couldn't take the pain any longer.

"Can you do anything yet?" I asked through gritted teeth. He stuck his hand in a place I would rather he didn't, looked thoughtful, then took his hand out again.

"Not yet. You're not open enough."

"What do you mean I'm not open enough?!"

"Stop yelling, Heidi. I'm waiting for the skin to be completely gone. I need to feel around and make sure you're ready. And the pain will be an indication all on its own. Right now, the pain is coming and going. We're waiting for it to be continuous."

"Why do I have to wait for it to hurt more?"

"Because that's life. Now stop screaming or you can deliver the baby yourself."

That shut me up immediately. I had no idea what I was doing and the last thing I wanted was to rely on skills I didn't have. But that didn't make the pain hurt any less. I might not have been screaming, but I was crying. It just hurt too much. I didn't want to do this anymore. I just wanted it to be over. I heard the door open and saw Sören barge in. Alphonse looked at him with face that seemed almost professionally annoyed.

"I told you to wait outside, Sören. Your wife's in good hands."

"How can you expect me to stay out there? I'm allowed to be near my wife when she's having my child."

"You're just getting in the way. I've never lost a mother because I make sure there's as little stress on her throughout the pregnancy and during delivery as possible. That includes not having a panicky father nearby. So go outside and wait for me to tell you otherwise."

Sören was reluctant and he was glaring at Alphonse at first. But then he finally took a deep breath and left the tent as Alphonse ordered him to. After that was more excruciating waiting. It was getting worse and worse by the minute and every one of those minutes felt like hours. Alphonse kept looking and feeling and each time he would shake his head and we'd wait even more. With a small opening in our door, I could see the progress of the night. And when I started seeing sunlight, I saw red. I couldn't believe this was taking so long. Whenever a woman was having a baby at my village, our Lord and the father would just tell her to start pushing and she usually had a baby within an hour. I told that to Alphonse and he just rolled his eyes and said that's why few women in my village ever lived through childbirth.

When the sun was completely up, Alphonse checked one last time. I couldn't even contain my relief when he told me I could start pushing now. His wife took a seat next to me and let me hold her hand while I pushed. She didn't even flinch when I squeezed her hand. I could tell she'd dealt with this enough times to be alright. I heard Sören start arguing with someone over whether or not he should come in. I realized he was arguing with Lord Heidbrier and Steffen. His brothers were outside too and weren't helping at all.

"Heidi! Head out of your ass, please, you're delivering a baby!" I gave Alphonse a dirty look for a moment when I was taken out of my trance, but said nothing.

When he ordered me to start pushing, I wasn't sure what to do. His wife explained how I should do it with Alphonse yelling at me to get started. I wasn't sure how true it was that he liked to keep a pregnant mother's stress level low, but I wasn't about to anger him now. I did what his wife explained and I felt the pain primarily in my back. He told me to do it again and again until he finally said something about crowning. He yelled at me to push one last time and I did as he said. By the end of that, I heard a baby start crying and I was shocked to say that sound alone made everything I just went through worth it.

He didn't say anything to me about the baby, but I noticed that it was a little girl. And she was so beautiful. Alphonse handed my little girl to his wife before he went outside the tent to tell Sören the good news. Alphonse's wife cleaned the baby with the warm water she'd prepared and handed her to me when she was clean.

"So what's the little girl's name?" Alphonse's wife asked me eagerly. I smiled and never took my eyes off my baby.

"Zoë." Then I heard someone, Lord Heidbrier start yelling at Alphonse. He was obviously displeased with getting a granddaughter. But I ignored him. I had my little Zoë and that's all that mattered.

Alphonse came in and took his wife out of the tent and back home a few minutes later, leaving me alone with my daughter. Eventually, Sören came inside. Lord Heidbrier was still yelling, but Sören had stopped listening a long time ago. When he looked towards me, he had a silly grin on his face and it was directed at Zoë. I smiled back at him and kept smiling as he walked over and took a seat next to me, always looking at Zoë.

"She's so beautiful."

"She really is." Zoë had my hair already, that much was clear. She seemed to have Sören's nose and eyes. She was so tiny and the most beautiful child I'd ever seen.

"Are you feeling better?" I nodded.

"Much better. I'm still sore, but Alphonse said that would pass, especially since the placenta's out."

"The what?" I shrugged.

"I don't know. I just nodded my head. He said I would be healthy and that's all I care about."

"True." He reached his hands to me and I handed him Zoë. He handled her gently and held her close to his face, just looking at her. "Thanks for this, Heidi."

"There's nothing to thank me for." He shook his head.

"Not true. I know you were forced into all this, marrying me and such. I know we aren't……in love per se….but I'm glad we're at least friends. I never thought I'd get that. And now you're giving me a daughter. I have a lot to thank you for." I smiled and he smiled back.

"Then let me thank you. You've been kinder to me than I deserve." He looked up at me and reached over to kiss my forehead.

"I don't deserve you, Heidi." We smiled at each other a little longer before we turned our attention back to Zoë. She was already snug in his arms and asleep. It was the sweetest face in the world and I was happy to have someone that I knew would love me unconditionally for the rest of my life.


	4. The Grecians

**The Grecians**

**Germania 978 b.c**

After Zoë was born, I couldn't remember a time when I'd been happier. She was so sweet and she always managed to brighten my day. It wasn't long before she was already crawling. She'd been on her back staring at her hands when she noticed Sören start to leave, so she tried following him. I just smiled and watched until he turned and noticed her doing that. It just put a huge grin on his face and he held her and praised her for it long enough to make him late to talk to Lord Heidbrier.

Of course, Lord Heidbrier had been hoping for a boy. So naturally, he wanted Sören and me to try again. But we didn't want to. When it was just us, it wasn't hard to find time to have sex. But with Zoë around, I never wanted to risk her ever seeing us like that. I'd seen my parents do that before and it never ceased to sicken me whenever the memory crossed my mind. Sören had those same memories and was just as adamant about avoiding that as I was. We would let Aleida take her sometimes so we could try, but I never wanted to be away from Zoë long enough to put any real effort into having another child. The few times we did it weren't enough to get me pregnant. Neither of us were all that concerned about it anyway.

I knew that Lord Heidbrier wasn't thrilled that we had a daughter, so I tried to keep her away from him as much as possible. The last thing I wanted was for Lord Heidbrier to tell my daughter that she should've been a boy. I wouldn't hesitate to confront him if that ever did happen.

By late fall, Zoë was already trying to walk. Once again, Sören was to thank for it. Since Zoë was born, Sören liked to stay at home in the morning before he went out hunting, rejoining the other men. So Zoë was always sad to see him go. One day, she tried following him by forcing herself onto her two feet and walking towards him. She didn't get very far, but she attempted and that made Sören's day. By the time she saw her first snow, Zoë had said her first word. Sören wanted it to be daddy of course, and I wanted her to say mommy. But in the end, her first word was beetle. We weren't sure how that happened, but it was cute either way.

From there, Zoë was gradually learning her words and how to put them together. By her third winter, she could already form sentences. They weren't perfect, but that was okay. It wasn't long after that, that Zoë would follow Sören to the door and ask him to stay home for the day. It made me smile to see Sören look guilty a moment before he'd promise to take her with him one day. That plan didn't thrill me, since I knew that would put her with Lord Heidbrier and Sören's brothers. But he assured me that as long as he was with her, she'd be fine.

Reluctantly, I agreed to let him take Zoë hunting with him for the day. I was worried sick for her since she left and all I thought about all day was whether or not she would be okay. And I made a mental note to myself to never agree to this again. When they finally came home, it was with a large buck and Zoë was all too proud to say that she and Sören caught it together and that they got the biggest deer of the group. I could tell Sören enjoyed having her too from the smile he had on his face when they came home and he put Zoë down and let her run to me.

By the time it was her fifth summer, she was already speaking in full sentences. But that same summer, Lord Heidbrier passed away. I wasn't sure how to feel during the funeral. No one was crying, not even Aleida. And in truth, she was the only one who ever cared about him I'm sure, since she was his sister. The day of Lord Heidbrier's funeral, Sören had to officially take lordship over the village like his father wanted. This earned a lot of arguing from his brothers, but he managed to put them in their place, but not before asking me to remove Zoë from the situation. He didn't want her to ever see a part of him that might scare her.

Sören didn't look happy when he came home that day. He just ate his dinner quietly and went straight to bed. Zoë wanted to be with him, but I made her go to bed and let him be until tomorrow.

By now, Zoë was already about the same age as I was when I came to Heidbrier. She was a smart girl that loved to come with me while I got water and play around in the forest. She loved to go hunting with Sören every chance she got and was always proud when she managed to shoot an arrow or throw a spear all by herself. The men that Sören went hunting with always thought it was strange that he would allow Zoë to do such masculine activities, but since he's the Lord of the village, no one questioned him. Steffen, on the other hand, thought it was cute.

Steffen has long since stopped hunting. His son will usually get food during the hunt for him and Aleida. Zoë loved going to Aleida's and Steffen's house and having dinner with them. They were both as kind to her as they were to me and she was to refer to them as Aunty and Uncle, just like me and Sören. And she didn't appear to be changing too much from her childlike appearance, so I wasn't worried about having to be bound by village decency to have her married. I don't think Sören would allow it, though. Anyone that married Zoë would have to go through rigorous talking to with Sören. He'd already told me several times before that Zoë wouldn't marry until he found a man that was worthy of her. He warned that he might never find that.

"Can I go hunting with you again tomorrow, daddy?" Zoë would ask this every day during dinner and Sören would tell her yes or no. I appreciated that he always gave reasons when he said no. This time, he shook his head.

"Not this time, Zoë. When we got back, one of the men informed me that they found a dead body in the woods. It wasn't one of our own, but it was odd none the less."

"Why was it odd, daddy?" I looked at Sören, just as curious as Zoë was.

"I don't know. I'm taking a look at it tomorrow." Then Sören looked at me. He was lying about waiting until tomorrow to see it. A random dead body wasn't something he ignored. Him looking at me was his way of telling me that he needed to talk to me about it. Taking the hint, I turned my attention to Zoë with a smile.

"Zoë, do me a big favor and go to Aunty's. She said there was something she needed your help with." Zoë looked at me and Sören before she nodded her head and walked out of the tent, making her way to Aleida's house. Aleida had never asked for anything, but she knew that if I sent Zoë over to do something, it meant Sören and I needed to talk and she would give her something to do. "How bad was it?"

"Bad. It seemed like the man was completely drained of blood. It was so odd. And his eyes were wide. It was like he was staring in the eyes of death those last few moments of his life. And the weirdest part was that whoever did it smashed a whole in his chest." I gave him a weird look.

"A whole in his chest? Why?"

"I don't know."

"It wasn't an animal, was it?" Sören shook his head.

"No. An animal wouldn't be able to do something like that. If it were an animal attack, the scene would've been bloody. But there was nothing. He was completely clean of all his blood. And he had four human bite marks on his body. Two were on his neck and one on each wrist. This definitely wasn't an animal attack. A human did this. Four to be more specific."

"Cannibals?" Sören shook his head.

"If they were cannibals, there wouldn't be a body left. They wouldn't have taken just the blood and not the meat. And it looks like the attackers drunk his blood by puncturing his skin with their teeth."

"Do you think they're coming our way?" Sören shook his head.

"They would've been here by now if they were coming this way. My guess is that whoever did that is continuing east."

"That's good at least. We don't have to worry about them."

"Maybe. I have a bad feeling about this. So I want you and the other women to stay in the village. And I don't want Zoë in the woods either."

"Does the village know about this?" He shook his head.

"Not yet. I'm telling them tomorrow morning."

"Why didn't you tell everyone as soon as you all got back?"

"Because we wanted to know as much as we could before we got rid of the body. I don't want anyone to see that. Just looking at it sent a chill down my spine." I scooted closer to him and rubbed his arm, trying to be comforting.

"Whatever it was is gone now. You said it wasn't likely that they were heading this way, so there's nothing to worry about. We should let everyone know so we can be cautious, but try not to think about it too much." Sören took a deep breath before he looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Just promise me that you and Zoë won't go into the woods. At the very least, never go alone." I nodded.

"Don't worry, Sören. I'll always have her close." He smiled and brought my hand up to kiss it.

"Thank you, Heidi." I smiled at him and nodded my head.

Zoë came home with a large pile of fur that Aleida told her to give me to prepare for fall. Sören kissed her forehead and took the furs before telling her to go to bed. She did as she was told and Sören and I stuffed the furs with all the others we had and I cleaned up a little before going to bed.

As he promised, the next morning, Sören informed all the people in the village about what he and his men found and cautioned us to stay out of the woods and never leave the grounds without someone, or preferably a lot of people, with us. Zoë tried asking Sören what was out there, and I could tell it broke his heart to tell her he didn't know. All we knew were that these attackers were human.

The villagers were all terrified by the news. Parents were telling their children they weren't allowed to leave the village and were no longer allowed to be out of their parent's sight. I'd never seen anyone in such a panic. It was like this sort of thing had happened before or something similar. I didn't think too much about that at first. I figured that if Sören knew what was going on, he would've told me already.

What I found odd, though, was the fact that he and the others were staying up all night watching camp and sleeping all day. That made me nervous. They weren't even doing it in shifts. Normally, Sören being home would make Zoë overjoyed. But all he did when he was home was sleep. I wasn't even sure if he was eating. I wanted to talk to him about it, but there was never a time when he was home or awake where I could talk to him. But after a few days, I decided we needed to talk about this. So I sent Zoë to Aleida's house again, but I told her to spend the night there. I knew Aleida wouldn't mind keeping her for a while. That morning when Sören came home, he looked like he was about to pass out from tiredness and then he looked surprised when he saw that Zoë wasn't there.

"Where's Zoë?"

"She's at Aunty's house. I wanted to talk to you alone for a minute." Then he sighed and shook his head.

"It can wait, Heidi. I'm tired."

"You've been tired every time you came home and you always leave again as soon as you wake up. I'll let you go to sleep as soon as you tell me what's going on."

"I already told you. We're being cautious."

"You said they wouldn't come here, so what's the problem? And even if they make it to our village, they're just four people. What's the worst they could do?"

"They're not just four people, Heidi. They aren't even human." I gave him a weird look and ignored the slight outburst.

"What do you mean they're not human? What are they?" Sören went silent a moment and avoided eye contact with me. I stood up from the pit where I was sitting and walked over to him and took a hold of his cheeks in my hands. He still didn't look at me, but I asked again anyway. "Sören, please. What aren't you telling me?" He looked at me then and I saw something in his eyes I'd never seen before. Fear. He looked terrified.

"I think what attacked that man…….I think they were blood drinkers." I shrugged.

"We figured that out already." He shook his head.

"That's not what I mean. I think we're dealing with vampires." His eyes seemed to hold more terror when he said that. I'd never heard of a vampire. But whatever they were, they were strong enough to put a chill down the spine of the strongest man I knew. That alone was what frightened me.

"What are vampires? Why is that so bad?" When Sören sighed, it was shaky, like he was sincerely scared.

"They're the living dead. What was once human became a blood drinker answering to only themselves. They're ruthless and almost impossible to destroy. Nothing you do can kill them unless you manage to tear them apart and set them on fire."

"Why is that so hard to do?"

"Because vampires are stronger, faster, smarter, everything that me and my men aren't. Tearing a vampire apart is like trying to dismember a rock. And none of our weapons can do anything against them, no matter how sharp they are. Their skin is impenetrable."

"Then why don't we try to leave?"

"Moving is out of the question. We don't know where they are right now and if we bump into them, we're as good as done."

"But you said they were going east."

"I said I think they're going east, that doesn't mean I know. And unless I know, we stay here until it's safe."

"How long will that be?" Sören breathed out.

"Until we stop finding dead bodies drained of blood in the woods." My eyes widened.

"You mean you've been finding them still? Why didn't you tell me that?"

"Because you would panic. I don't want you to panic. It's bad enough that I'm already panicky about this. If those vampires attack, we'll have no way to defend ourselves against them."

"There has to be some way to defend ourselves. They can't be invincible."

"They aren't. But they're strong enough that we can't fight vampires." Sören looked at me and I think he saw the horror on my face. He sighed. "Just stay out of the woods, okay. I don't want anything happening to you or Zoë." I nodded awkwardly. "Now let me get some sleep, alright Heidi. I'm exhausted."

"Thanks for being honest with me."

"I'm not sure thanking me is really what you want to do."

Sören plopped into bed after that and he was snoring lightly after a minute. I looked at him for several minutes, even after he'd fallen asleep. I'd already been nervous and now it was worse. My own fault for demanding he be specific, I suppose. I would certainly be more of a stickler about not letting Zoë in the woods. Zoë came back a few minutes later and pouted the moment she saw Sören asleep. It had become normal for me and Zoë to walk around the village and do just about nothing while all the men were asleep.

After Sören told me what was going on, I never questioned him about the matter. Not even when winter came along and still nothing happened and they were still pulling all night look outs. But near the middle of winter, Sören and the others finally stopped finding bodies drained of blood and started to lay off. Zoë was overjoyed to have her father at normal hours again. And Sören made up for all the lost time with her and spent as much time with her as possible. He still didn't let her near the woods, but he still gave them things to do.

It was still winter and the sun was hardly out. The nights were longer than the day. That meant less time for hunting and daily chores. I always liked the winter. I might not get as much done, but I got more time to relax with the lack of day time. One night after dinner and after tucking Zoë into bed, Sören were laying in bed, both smiling.

"She's so happy to have you back home, you know." He nodded.

"I know. I'm sorry to have to do that. I was just trying to make sure that nothing would happen."

"I know." Sören turned his head to face me and I turned my head to look at him when he was silent for a minute. "What?"

"Did you miss me at all, Heidi?" I smiled and nodded my head.

"Of course I did. It's nice to be able to talk to you again. I was starting to get lonely." He shook his head.

"That's not what I meant actually."

"What did you mean then?" He smiled a little nervously at me. Then he took a deep breath and scooted onto his elbow so he was looking at me.

"I noticed something while I was doing those all night watch outs."

"What's that?" He smiled a little more, almost shyly.

"I've always had you close since we got married. We always talked to each other and you always made my day better no matter how bad it was. And it only got better when you gave me Zoë. I never thought I'd have the privilege to be happy. And when I didn't get to talk to you pleasantly or hear you laugh and see you smile or see the same with Zoë, I was depressed again." I smiled and caressed his cheek after I turned onto my side to look at him.

"At least you can be happy now." He turned serious then and I waited for him to explain what he was thinking. He didn't say anything again and that made me nervous. "What's wrong?" He shook his head.

"Nothing, Heidi. Just happy to be home again." Then he reached over and kissed me. The kiss was odd in a way. It lasted longer than usual. And it felt warmer somehow. Then he pulled his lips away and fell onto his back. "Good night, Heidi."

"Good night, Sören." I turned onto my back and looked up at the ceiling again. I fell asleep a short time later.

The next morning, I woke up with Sören and Zoë sitting at the fire pit eating breakfast. Zoë glanced over at me and smiled when she saw that I was awake. Sören looked over his shoulder and smiled at me too and I smiled at them both. Zoë stood from her spot and came over to me and pulled me up to my feet until she could lead me to the pit. When we were all finished with breakfast, Sören kissed me and Zoë on the head before going towards the quad of the village. Evidently there was a dispute over ownership of a hound or something along those lines. Sören hadn't been very specific about it. I think he knew I didn't really care much.

With Sören busy, that left me and Zoë alone for most of the day. We knew there would be nothing more enjoyable than to go be with Aleida, so that's what we did. We went to her tent and sat together and talked while we sewed some more winter clothes. I was only a little jacket away from a fully white rabbit skin fur dress. I had the dress and the boots I made myself with some fabric Sören and the other men had stolen from another village that was off white to make a shirt that went under my dress. Now all I needed was a fur coat.

By the time it was almost dark out, I'd finished enough of the coat that it looked more like a vest at the moment. Zoë and I left Aleida's to go home and get ready to start dinner. One the way home while walking past a gathering of trees, Zoë stopped and kept holding onto my hand. I felt her stop and looked at her confused. She was staring out into the woods.

"What's the matter, Zoë?" Zoë didn't answer me. She kept looking towards the woods at whatever had caught her attention.

I looked up in the direction she was looking and saw what it was she was staring at. There was a shining light coming from behind some trees. It was in the shape of a human figure. Whatever was causing the light was walking from behind the trees and was getting closer. What appeared was a gorgeous man like nothing I'd ever seen. His hair was short, brown, and curly and went slightly over onto his forehead with well defined brows from what I could see. His face was chiseled and stunning with bone structure that was far too perfect to be human. What was odd was his skin was shining and had an oddly pasty look to it despite it's obvious tan undertone. And he wore a white tunic with sandals even though it was freezing cold outside.

"Who is that, mommy?"

"I don't know, Zoë." Whoever this man was, he looked at me when I started talking. How strange. Then he smiled charmingly. It was a dazzling, blinding smile that actually made me melt.

"He's so handsome." I nodded absentmindedly, but I wasn't really agreeing. I wouldn't argue the man was stunning. But there was something about him that bothered me. Scared me even. He was far too perfect. No human was this perfect. A god perhaps, or even a demon, but not a human. And that made me uneasy.

"Zoë, I want you to go to the quad and tell your father this man's here."

"That won't be necessary, wench."

I practically leaped back a good few feet when the man was suddenly right in front of me and Zoë and made us both scream. That would at least let the others know something was wrong. He had a heavy accent that I'd never heard before. I finally saw that his eyes were red. That definitely wasn't something humans had. He grinned at the screams we made and walked a little closer. I realized his scent was strong, but it wasn't human either. It was sweet. So very sweet. It was intoxicating and made me feel like I could eat him.

"I'm sure the rest of your village already knows we're here. My coven has already picked their own spots of attack." I started shaking and so did Zoë. I tried backing away with her, but he kept following us so that his face was uncomfortably close to mine.

"You're the ones responsible for those murders. All those people my husband found in the woods drained of blood." He shrugged.

"I doubt it. My coven and I've only just arrived. We've gotten bored with Greece, you see, and we wanted to sight see. I can't understand why they would want to come here, though. All the languages are so harsh and vile. Just this moment, I feel as if I'm trying to spit. Give me Greek any day. Now that's a flowing language."

"What do you want?!" I was surprised I had the strength to yell at this man. He lifted his brow at me and smiled. As he moved slightly closer, the clouds covered the sun and his skin stopped shining.

"What any vampire wants. Blood." Then he looked in another direction and I started to hear people screaming. I was trembling more and he started laughing. "I see my coven has already started having their share. I suppose I should follow suit." He chuckled cruelly and I took Zoë's hand and started running away from him.

The man didn't follow us. I wasn't sure why he didn't, but that wasn't something worth thinking about at the moment. What I saw when I ran away was much worse, though. I saw people running in my direction, then turn away after they saw something. I looked over my shoulder and saw the man standing in plain sight with a cruel grin on his face. I started running again and pulled Zoë with me. I ran around tents hoping to lose the man if he was following me. But then, one minute, Zoë's hand was in mine. Then, suddenly, she was gone. I looked where she should've been and she was gone.

"Zoë?" I looked behind me and saw a woman that I'd never seen before. She looked similar to the man from before and was curvy and flawlessly beautiful. But all that matter was that she was holding my screaming daughter by her hair. "ZOË!!" The woman laughed cruelly, then spoke in a language I didn't understand.

"Λυττάμαι. Αυτό ανήκει σε σας?" I wasn't sure what she was asking, so I had no idea what to say except the obvious.

"Give her back now!" She smiled and laughed a little more. Then, suddenly, she and Zoë were gone. "Zoë?!"

I ran in the direction the woman had been standing and tried to look for her. I looked all around but I could find her or my daughter anywhere. I started running towards the direction people were running away from, hoping I might encounter the woman. I saw Sören running and I knew he saw me, but I didn't go to him. I wanted to find Zoë. But he came to me and took a hold of my arm and forced me to look at him.

"What are you doing?! The vampires are that way!"

"One of them has Zoë! I have to find her!" The moment her heard me say Zoë was in trouble, he shook me.

"YOU LOST ZOË?!"

"The vampire took her from me, Sören!"

"Well, come on!"

Then he was suddenly pulling me in the direction I'd been going before. I ignored all the screaming around us, only caring about getting Zoë back. Sören yelled out to Zoë when we saw her, but she wasn't on her feet. She was on the ground with her face down and there was blood all around her head. I screamed her name and ran over to her and took her in my arms after falling to the ground. When I picked her up, I saw the spot where the blood was coming from on her neck and I screamed her name again and crushed her to me and cried.

I didn't hear Sören say a thing about it. I think he was just stunned and heart broken into silence. I couldn't stop crying as I held Zoë to me begging her to come back to me. She was the one thing I loved most and I didn't want to let her go. While I was holding her, I felt something that felt like rock take a forceful hold of my shoulders and lift me up and I felt teeth on my neck all within a mere second or less. I never let go of Zoë, even when I felt sharp teeth sink into my skin and I screamed out in pain. Then the one holding me let go of me suddenly. I looked over and saw Sören attempting to stab the man from earlier.

"Get out of her, Heidi!" I was trembling a moment in fear. He saw that and it made him angry. "Damn it, Heidi, I said get out of here!"

This time, I did as he said and ran away into the woods as fast as I could. I felt blood running down my shoulder and my shoulder was hot, but I ignored it. As I ran with Zoë still in my arms, the burning in my shoulder was progressively getting worse and worse and spreading. I was halfway through the woods and could still hear the screaming when I couldn't move anymore because of the unbearable pain in my shoulder that was only spreading. I fell to the ground and landed on my back. Shortly after that, I was in so much mind numbing pain that I started screaming. I would take childbirth over this pain any day and be happy. This was more than I could bare. It was like my skin was on fire and the fire was spreading rapidly and my heart was beating faster than ever. I could actually hear my heart racing and pounding in my ears.

I finally released Zoë from my arms, terrified that I would crush her if I kept holding her in my arms. I was screaming loudly into the sky with no regard of my surroundings wanting desperately for the pain to go away. It was without a doubt worse than death. As I felt the pain radiating through my body, another woman I'd never seen before stood before me with the same evil smile as the others. The man and woman from before stood above me as well. I could barely concentrate on what they were saying, even if I could understand them.

"Θα πρέπει να τελειώσουμε την?" The woman with longer, wavy hair said. The man shook his head and kept smiling.

"Αριθ. νομίζω μια γνώριζε ζωής είναι αυτό που χρειάζεται. Εξάλλου, είχαμε ήδη μας γεμίζουν με αίμα." When the man said that, they all laughed together and the women both nodded their heads and the one that I remembered as being the one who took Zoë spoke next in a voice that I thought sounded almost seductive and evil.

"Αυτό θα αποτελέσει ένα: τρεις ημέρες." They all laughed again and the other two nodded in agreement. They walked away from me babbling on again in Greek.

I lost all track of time as I felt the pain all through my body. Minutes felt like days and I was burning to a crisp, but still alive. My heart kept pounding in my ears. I couldn't recall when I stopped screaming. Screaming seemed to do me no good. When night came, it started snowing and I noticed vaguely that the snow didn't melt when it touched my skin. I couldn't understand it. I felt like I was scorching and yet my body wasn't melting the snow.

Everything on my body hurt and I could feel nothing but fire. I wanted so badly to die. Anything would be better than this. I longed for the cold hand of death to take me to my husband and daughter. I couldn't sleep because of the pain, but I closed my eyes and wished it all away. I felt hotter than ever. The only indication of time was the rising and setting of the sun above me. But I couldn't concentrate on it anyway. I didn't have the strength to.

By the third time the sun rose, there were clouds in the sky that were covering the sun. I smiled when I felt the pain leave my fingers and toes. Then it gradually lifted up my body. But all that heat was centering in my heart and it began to beat even faster. I wasn't breathing anymore. I couldn't remember when I'd stopped or if I'd ever stopped before this. I couldn't remember anything but this pain that was worsening in my chest. Then all the pain was in my heart and it beat furiously. Then, suddenly, the fire was gone and my heart beat one last time, then went silent.

I breathed out a breath I hadn't realized I was even holding, then breathed in again. The air wasn't a necessity, but it brought with it the taste of my surroundings. I breathed through my nose and my throat burned from a savory, delicious smell that was in the air. I lifted my hand to my right shoulder and touched there. I could swear I remembered there being a wound there, but now it was healed as if it'd never been there. I was on my feet in the blink of an eye and was astonished by the speed at which I did that. I looked around just as quickly and saw my little girl, Zoë, laying in the ground with dried blood all over her body and her eyes wide open from fear. My eyes burned, but nothing came forward. I touched just below my eyes, but no tears formed. Why?

I walked over to her and took her in my arms and made my way to the village. When I got there, villagers were scattered all about, all completely drained of blood. I saw Sören and it made my heart sink. He was drained of blood with both his arms broken. Most likely from the fighting he'd done. Sören was never the kind of man to give up without a fight when his family was in danger. That was something that made him such a good husband. I walked over to him and kneeled to my knees before him when I was close enough. Then I bent down and rested my head on his chest.

"I'm so sorry, Sören. I couldn't save you. And I betrayed you by becoming what you were trying to save me from."

I'd already figured out what had happened. I glanced towards a mirror on my way here and saw the irrefutable proof in my red eyes and flawless features and this desperate and sudden need for blood. I stayed with Sören and Zoë until it was nightfall again before I buried them, giving them a proper resting place. I buried them together. They'd always been close and Sören always wished he could spend more time with Zoë. It only seemed appropriate. When they were buried, I walked away from the village with no idea where to go or what to do next. I felt so lost and heartbroken and lonely.

I wandered away and didn't take any notice of my shining skin whenever the sun hit it while I was wandering. I was sure it was a beautiful sight, but I simply didn't care. I had no reason to care. My throat was burning and it was so painful, though nowhere near the pain of changing. I knew I needed blood, but I didn't want to get any. I kept walking telling myself that I was a monster and a traitor to my late husband and daughter.

Attempting to kill myself was out of the question. I already knew that the only way for a vampire to die was to be torn up and set aflame. That's what Sören had told me and he knew a lot more about this whole thing than I did. But as I was walking around, a smell caught my attention. It was a delicious smell, savory with a hint of sweetness. The sweetness smelled a little like fruit. I looked where the smell was coming from and was astonished with myself to see it was a good mile away. And I could see my target even from that distance. It was a woman all alone in the woods humming to herself gathering apples. I couldn't take the burn anymore and without a thought crossing my head, I ran to the woman and had her neck to my lips in under a second.

She screamed, but it was muffled from the gargling sound of blood in her throat. When she stopped struggling, I lifted her up to my level and drank her dry. She was a short little woman and her blood, when I was done, wasn't enough to satisfy me, though it did make me feel a lot better. I smelled the air hoping to find another scent. I was going purely on instinct now. I picked up a scent and followed it the moment I had it. I came across a small gathering of people and eagerly attacked them all.

When I'd drank all their blood, the burn in my throat was finally soothed and I couldn't fight the sigh of contented relief. I continued onward from that village and kept walking with no destination planned. I noticed a few days of walking later that the climate was getting warmer. It was subtle, but there. I ignored it for the most part, keeping the thought way in the back of my mind. But when I entered a land that had minimal snow and the climate was much warmer than that of my home, I stole one of my victim's clothes so I wouldn't look so obvious. It was a colorful, but simple dress that hung down and tied just under my breast. She must have been a wealthy woman.

There was something I noticed that was odd. I would see images of people in my head as others passed by. One time, that image was that of a little boy and I kept his face in my mind. That's when a woman ran over to me crying hysterically and saying the name Alfredo over and over again. She took me by surprise and I simply drank her blood when she forced herself into my arms for a hug.

Shortly thereafter, when another image came to my head, I did the same as before and kept that image in my mind. Then, as before, someone came running to me with tears of joy. Another time, a man started walking towards me yelling in a rage and didn't stop yelling at me until he tried to stab me and he saw that didn't work. I drank his blood as well as left the matter as it was. One day, I tried keeping several images in my head at once and I was surrounded by people that were either happy and crying or angry and yelling or seemingly pleasantly surprised.

I wasn't sure what it was I was doing, but it certainly made hunting a hell of a lot easier, so I didn't complain about it. Before long, I was in a country where the sun was burning brightly and the sun was relentlessly shining off my skin. I would walk past people and they would stare at me in awe. Sometimes I would leave them alone, other times I would take advantage of their dumbfounded state and attack. It was all mostly small villages scattered about and lots of sheep and hills. I came across a coastline at one point and just followed that. It was a relaxing walk and made the trip slightly pleasant.

While I was walking one night, something came to my mind. It wasn't an image as much as an ambition. A feeling of success and accomplishment more or less. I thought about it thinking that it was such a strange thing for me to suddenly start thinking about, but then I smelled something sweet and heard footsteps coming towards me. I turned in the direction of the sound and saw a man I'd never seen running towards me with an evil grin. I backed away ready to attack him.

When I did, he stopped abruptly and lost that evil grin of ambition and it was replaced with a look of confusion. After him came five other vampires. One had dark hair like this one and was holding the hand of a woman whose appearance reminded me of the Grecians that had attacked my village. The other man was light haired and had another dark haired woman running close to him and one female vampire that went straight to the man before me. Then she spoke in a language I'd come to understand while walking around in this country.

"Aro, darling, what's the matter? You just ran off on us so suddenly." Aro kept looking at me with surprise while all the others took their spots close to him. The blonde one was irritable looking and made his mood obvious.

"What the hell are you doing, Aro? I thought we were going to Athens." Aro nodded.

"We are. But something caught my eye." The woman holding Aro looked at me suspiciously, then looked back at Aro.

"What did she do?" Aro shrugged.

"I don't know. That's what I want to find out." They all gave Aro a strange look as he walked slowly over to me. I kept backing away, prepared to attack him and defend myself at any time. "Please don't be hostile. I simply want to hear your thoughts if I may."

I gave him a strange look too. It was an odd thing to say and even more odd when he closed the distance and took a gentle hold of my hand and closed his eyes. I stood there waiting for him to do whatever it was he wanted to do. It didn't hurt or bother me, but it was strange and I wanted him to stop. Aro laughed under his breath and that was odd too. Then he finally took his hand away and opened his eyes with a smile.

"Just as I thought. It was you who did that."

"And what did I do if you don't mind my asking?"

"Well, you see Heidi, I'm very interested in taking over where Vladimir and his coven left off. I wish to be a ruler you see and you thought about my ambition when you heard it in your head and it made me attracted to you because of it. I could feel my dream on you in a manner."

"Wait, how do you know my name?"

"I heard it in your thoughts of course. Heidi of the Heidbrier clan in Germania, formerly a member of Braun in your maiden years. You were changed when a group of Grecian vampires attacked your village and you've been wandering around since the transformation. You've noticed that whenever you think of something in your head, people come to you and make it easy for you to hunt. Am I about right?"

I stared at Aro blankly a moment. I wasn't sure what to think. Everything he was saying was true and I couldn't understand how he knew. I'd never met this man before in my life. I would've remembered him if I had. Instead of saying anything, I nodded my head confirming what he just said.

"That's what I thought. I must say it's an interesting gift you have. It seems you can make people see what they desire, like in my case, my ambition. It's a wonderful and useful gift." The blonde walked a little closer.

"Aro, we don't know this vampire. Why should we let her into our coven?"

"Because she's strong, Caius. That's why we should let her into our coven. We can't take over with mine and Marcus' power alone. We need manipulative powers like Heidi's. Mark my words my friends, the more allies and coven mates we have, the stronger we will be."

Caius looked thoughtful a moment while Marcus looked slightly annoyed. I got the feeling that he wasn't all that interested in the coven. He kept his attention primarily on the woman holding onto him and his smile when he looked at her mad me hatefully envious. I'd never seen real love before, but it was plain to see when it was right in front of my face and I had to confess that I was jealous that they had that.

"I suppose you're right, Aro." Aro nodded at Caius' remark.

"Of course I'm right, Caius. I'm always right." Then he turned his attention back to me. "Now Heidi, please say you will join us. I know being a newborn isn't easy and I'm sure you would want the help at your disposal. And my coven would love to have your power handy."

I didn't answer him at first. I wasn't sure what I should do. The blonde one and his mate made me feel uneasy, but they rest of them were fine in a manner. And I wasn't sure what I should be doing. And I was desperate to have something to do to help me take my mind away from the pain I had. I knew I would always be cursed to think of my late husband and daughter and never have a moment's peace, but I could at least put it in the back of my mind with something to do. And maybe this would be good for me. I dared to think that maybe I would find something because of this that would heal my heart. Maybe even I could find someone like Marcus had found the woman on his arm. I dared to hope. So I looked at Aro and nodded my head.

"I will be happy to join your coven Aro." Aro grinned and clapped his hands together.

"Simply splendid. Now off to Athens. You'll love Greece, Heidi, it's a sight to see. The cities, the marvel, the bloodlust they have as a people, it's spectacular. And Athens is a place of learning. That reminds me, we need to get to teaching you how to read. I can't have you not reading. That would simply be cruel. And we'll need to teach you Greek while we're at it. I think Didyme is the best one for that job." I looked at the woman waving at me and she was smiling. I smiled and waved slightly back.

We walked away from the coast as Aro babbled to me about everything that needed to be done for me to be of good company. Didyme got right to teaching me Greek. I learned the language in four solid weeks with continuous rules on grammar and new words. I learned the written language a fourth that time. I learned so many things while I was with Aro and his coven. I'd never known how big the world was and what it had to offer. I saw the streets of Athens and watched the sports of Spartans and learned from Didyme the stories of Greek gods. No matter what I did, I could never forget what happened to me. But at the very least, I was learning to deal with it and becoming everything I realized I'd ever wanted to be. I remembered that I never had wanted to be married. I'd wanted to be independent and to learn about what the world had to offer. Though I wasn't happy how it happened, it was strange to see that in the long run, this was what I'd wanted all along.


	5. Chelsea: Far From Home

**Far From Home**

**Italy 75 b.c**

It was summer in the hills of Italy. The sun was shining brightly like it always did and the sheep were calm and happy. Father was off in Rome for a few days selling some crops that we'd grown, leaving me, mother, and my two sisters alone. I was the oldest of my two sisters. Niobe was two years younger than me and Antonia was my junior by five years.

I was outside picking some olives from a few trees that we have in our fields. Olives are prized and catch a good price, so father took most of them to Rome with him. He left about a bushel for the house. We'd use it to make oil and mom would sometimes pickle them so they would last longer. Pickled green olives were my favorite and I would nibble on them between work every chance I got. My sisters would do the same and mother always yelled at us for it.

"Chelsea, what have I told you about eating all the olives? They're meant for hard times." I shrugged at mother while I was working on getting more olives.

"Working is hard times. I get hungry and olives are a quick eat. Besides, it's not like we have to worry about eating. We've got plenty of olives for all of us. And I'm gathering more as we speak."

"That's not the point, Chelsea. You're the oldest, you should know better. And no man will want to marry a woman that eats her family out of house and home."

"I'm not eating the family out of house and home. And I'm not the only one who eats those olives either. I've seen you pick at them from time to time after butchering a chicken or a sheep."

"Don't backtalk me Chelsea. Stop eating all the damn olives and I won't have a reason to yell at you anymore." Then mom left me to my work and my two sisters were laughing together while shaving a sheep.

I never listened to those two whenever they laughed. I was older than them and that made me more valuable to the family. I was sure to remind them of that every chance I got. Mom went back into the house and started getting dinner ready. We never had much for dinner when dad was away. We had plenty of fruit in our fields at our disposal so we usually just ate a bunch of that after a whole days work. But mom had a special way she liked her fruit. She always liked to bake it. And seeing as we have an irritable oven, she always starts dinner early so we would always have at least a few good cooked fruit. We'd eat the ones that weren't fully cooked too, but mom prefers cooked fruit.

When mom went inside and I was finished gathering all the olives I could fit in the basket, I went to our fig tree and helped myself to a few that had fallen to the ground. That was another food I really loved were figs. They hurt my lips when I ate them for some reason, but I didn't care. I loved them. After a few figs, I took the bushel of olives into the house where mom was still working on dinner. Later in the night when dinner was ready, we all sat together at the table and ate our fruit together. Whenever we were just eating fruit, we never bothered with forks and knives. Dad had a conniption fit whenever we did that, so it wasn't something we did when he was home.

After dinner, my sisters and I helped mom clean the house and all the dishes that she used for dinner. Mom was always complaining about having to do house work when there was so much other work that needed to be done and that she wanted help around the house. Dad always promised he'd buy her a slave, but he's yet to do so. Mom got on his case about it all the time. He promised to have a slave for mom when he got back, but I didn't think he would. Slaves were a little more expensive than we could afford.

My sisters and I went to bed shortly after we finished cleaning around the house. We all shared a big bed in our two room house while mom and dad had a room to themselves. We always got on each other's nerves at night. I don't care what Antonia says, she snores like a bear. And Niobe tossed and turned like she was still awake. More times than I care for, I've woken up to Niobe being right on top of me with her morning breath in my nose. And no matter how many times I've hurled her off me, she never ceases to do it.

I woke up to that very thing in the morning. Niobe was on top of me, sound asleep, while Antonia was snoring in my ear. I rolled my eyes and pushed Niobe off me, waking her violently with a screech. That screech woke up Antonia just as violently and she slapped me as a reflex.

"What happened?! What's going on?!" Antonia screamed.

"Nothing happened, Antonia. Niobe was on top of me and I pushed her off." Niobe shook her head and brushed dust off herself.

"Damn it, Chelsea, what's wrong with you?! You do this every morning!"

"Yes I do, Niobe. Do you see a pattern there?" Niobe gave me a dirty look and I did the same to her. Then mother came out of her room and was immediately yelling at us.

"Do you think you three can wake up quietly for once?!" We all looked guilty a moment while mother pulled out some honey and bread. "Gods, rioters are quieter than you three."

"Sorry, mother." We all said in unison. Mom rolled her eyes and handed us each a piece of honeyed bread.

"Don't say sorry. Just do what I tell you. Now eat your breakfast and get to work." We all nodded and ate our breakfast quickly before going outside to tend to the animals.

Niobe went to handle the chores with the chickens while Antonia and I milked the goats and cows for the morning. Mother walked further out where father brewed his wine and checked on that. Father liked making his own wine and we had the grapes available for it. He always bought wine for the time in between when our home made wine was ready, but it wasn't as good as father's wine. I liked what he did to it. He added fruit like figs to give it more flavor and I loved that.

She came back, the wine not ready. Then she gathered a lamb and slaughtered it behind the house to prepare it for dinner. It'd been five days, and that was usually how long dad was gone, so she was preparing for dad to be home soon. I don't know how mom does it. Just listening to that poor animal when she killed it made me sick. I hated killing off the animals. I liked most of them and they were nothing but sweet, especially the lamps and pigs. The rooster I could do without, but that was about it. That rooster got on my nerves, crowing all through the day and making noise through the night. I've thrown more rocks at that damn bird than I can count.

Late in the afternoon around the time mom was almost done with dinner, father came home with a cart empty of the fruit but filled with spoils from his trip. As I guessed, there was no slave like he'd promised, but I wasn't mad. I just laughed when mom got mad at dad for it while giving him a kiss and welcoming him home. When dinner was ready, we all sat at the table and took our share of food. When we all had our food, father started talking to mom.

"By the way, Atia, I talked to Catian on my way here. You know, that drover that lives down the road from us?" Mom nodded.

"And what did he have to say?" Father then looked at me. I didn't think of it until he spoke.

"He spoke to me about Chelsea actually." Mom smiled a little.

"Did he? And what did he have to say about her?"

"He complimented her on growing well. He saw you girls working the other day evidently and was impressed by Chelsea. And his son is close to her age." I stopped eating when dad said that last part.

"Father, what are you getting at?" Mom and dad both laughed a little before dad went on.

"Catian wants you and his son Catus to marry. He's but a few months older than you, so age is no issue. I wanted to talk to all of you before I said yes or no to them." Mother smiled, but I wasn't sure what reaction to make.

"That's wonderful to hear Chelseus. I think it's a great idea. It's not decent for Chelsea to be eighteen and still not married." Dad nodded.

"I agree, Atia." Then he looked at me again. "So what do you say, Chelsea? Should I go to their home tomorrow and let them know you accept?"

Once again, I was quiet. I knew who Catus was, but I hardly ever saw him. I think I'd seen him five times in my whole life and in the times we did meet, we barely said a word to each other. The only thing I knew about him was that his father was a drover and he had a creepy fascination with bugs. I'd seen him mess around with those things all day just enjoying himself while I'd sit around listening to the adults talk.

"I don't know, father. He seems kind of weird." Father laughed a little.

"Okay, Chelsea, how about this. You two can spend the day together tomorrow and see how you like each other. If by the end of the day, you absolutely despise him, then I won't give the boy your hand in marriage. But if otherwise, please say you'll consider it." I looked at dad for a moment and he gave me a puppy dog face. It won me over and I sighed.

"Fine. I'll give him a chance." Then dad grinned wider.

"That's all I ask, pumpkin."

When that was that, father talked to mother about other things regarding his recent trip to Rome. Evidently, there was talk of Rome about soldiers coming back from Gaul. They'd been up there taking land for noblemen or something along those lines. There were tribal people in Gaul, but that was certainly nothing that Rome couldn't handle.

The next morning, dad had be dress nicely and we all went down the road were the drover family was. Catian was thrilled to see us all and greeted us openly. His wife stayed by his side and was demure and welcomed us more calmly. Catus was standing next to his mother looking like he felt awkward. I see his parents had the same conversation with him last night as my father had with me. I could already tell this wasn't going to go as well as I would like.

"Please, Chelseus, come inside. We have lots to talk about." Then he looked at Catus. "Catus, show Chelsea around for a bit while we all talk. And you be polite." Catus nodded and walked over to me while the rest went inside. When we were alone, he smiled awkwardly at me.

"I'm guessing there's not much you would find interesting." I shook my head.

"If you've seen one farm, you've seen them all."

"I know what you mean. So what should we do for the rest of the day?" I shrugged.

"It's up to you. You're the one that supposed to keep me entertained, am I right?" He chuckled and nodded.

"I guess so. I hear you like figs. We have fig trees nearby." I smiled and nodded.

"That sounds like something nice. Why don't we settle with talking for a bit."

"Alright. That works for me."

The conversation didn't get less awkward after that. As soon as we sat under the fig tree, we stared in the opposite direction of the other and didn't say anything. I just took off my sash and sun bathed while he looked at his house waiting for the day to be over. He shared a few figs under the tree, but our conversation was limited. He asked me why I ate figs if they made my lips hurt and I just told him because I like them, simple as that. I did learn that his mother makes him eat a tablespoon of olive oil every morning.

"Why on earth does your mother make you do that?" He shrugged.

"She says that if I eat it every morning several minutes before breakfast, it boosts my metabolism and makes me more useful whenever I'm working in the fields."

"That's odd. My mom just gives us bread and honey for breakfast and we're on our own for food until dinner. I'm always nibbling on figs and olives." He scrunched his nose.

"You like olives? I hate olives. They taste so funky."

"That's why I like them." He kept giving me a weird look, but he eventually shrugged and changed the subject.

"So…….What else do you want to talk about?" I shrugged.

"I don't know." We went silent again and I looked around for something that might be entertaining. When I didn't find anything, I stood up and started to walk. "I'm going to walk around." Then he stood up.

"I'll come with you." I shook my head.

"No, no, you stay here. I think I'd rather be alone right now."

"I can't. My parents told us to stay together. If anything happens to you, I'll be the one in trouble." I sighed and nodded.

"If you insist."

So we walked around his farm, still barely talking. By the time we got back, we knew no more about each other than we had when we started. It wasn't going to work. There was no spark between us. I only hoped father wouldn't be mad about it. We walked around until I saw my mother come out and call for us to come in to have dinner. While our fathers had been talking, our moms made dinner with some chicken from his farm.

During dinner, our fathers continued to speak pleasantly and were already planning for me and Catus to get married before we'd even agreed with it. Through dinner, they never bothered to ask. They'd already decided the wedding would be as soon as my family could provide a proper dowry and his family could find a good priest that was close by. When we were done with dinner and said our goodbyes, my family and I left to go back to our house.

"So, Chelsea, what did you think of Catus?"

"I wasn't impressed. It was hard to talk to him."

"Oh, honey, don't worry about that. Your mother and I didn't start off on the right foot." Then he took mother's hand and smiled at her and she smiled back. "But we fell in love in the end. Believe me, Chelsea, I would never allow that boy to marry you if I didn't have faith that he was good enough for you."

"I know, but I would like for the man I marry to already love me. Not learn to love me."

"I know, pumpkin. But it's not decent for a woman your age not to be married. Heavens, Chelsea, you're twenty already. You should've been married by now. But I take the blame for not finding you a suitable husband sooner. But Catus is your age and he's a good kid. I know because I've spoken with him on several occasions."

"It's not that I'm worried about. Just because he's nice doesn't mean we'll get along." Father sighed.

"Chelsea, there aren't many suitable men in this area. Our options are really slim. And I want to keep you close to home and I know Catus will do just that. Please at least give him a chance. Give the marriage a few years and see how it goes, and if it doesn't go well, you can always get a divorce." I sighed and didn't argue any further.

We all went straight to bed when we got home. My sisters and I were asleep in no time and we woke up to the same routine of me pushing Niobe off of me and Antonia waking up violently from Niobe's startled shriek. That woke up mother and father and earned us the same lecture we seemed to get just about every morning. If I could get away from mornings like this, maybe getting married wouldn't be so bad after all.

Once my sisters and I all had our breakfast, we went out to go do our chores. One of my chores for the day was to walk to the house of the old woman that lived up the road from us and get some cheese. She was the woman that all the people living around her went to whenever they needed sheep and goat products of any kind. She made butter, milk, cheese, anything we needed. I had the money in hand and reached her shop in ten minutes and left as soon as I had all that I needed.

One my way home, I started hearing horses in the background. I glanced over my shoulder, knew them to be Roman soldiers, and went about my business once I knew who they were. But as I was walking, I felt someone grab the belt of my dress and pull me up until I was sitting on his lap. Then he made his horse speed up to a full run.

"What are you doing?!"

"Quiet. You're coming with us to Rome." My eyes widened.

"I will not! I'm not some tawdry foreigner you can take as you please. I'm an Italian citizen and I demand that you let me go!" When he answered me, he raised his voice to a yell.

"You may be an Italian citizen, but you're not a Roman citizen, so you won't demand of me to do anything. And I'm sad to say that in my travels away from home, I didn't get to acquire as many valuables as I would've liked. But a pretty thing like you should catch a nice price."

The moment he was done, I slapped him as hard as I could and jumped off the horse and made a mad dash for my house. But the horses were faster and the followed after me. He grabbed a hold of my arm and draped me on my stomach over his lap. When I was there, he grabbed a tight hold of my hair and I yelped from the grip.

"If you slap me again, this trip will be very unpleasant. It's a long three days. Either you be a good girl and make this easy on yourself or you be difficult and get beaten whenever you give me trouble. Is that clear?"

I didn't answer him. I tried struggling and getting away from him, but nothing I did seemed to work. He got my answer from that, so he pulled me into a sitting position on his lap and he punched me, knocking me out instantly. When I came to, it was to water being splashed in my face. I woke up screaming and stopped when I saw the soldier that had taken me standing before me with a look of professionalism and another man in fine quality robes standing next to him.

"I told you she wasn't dead. She was just out for a bit." Then he grabbed a hold of my wrist and made me stand before the other man. "So how much do you suppose I can get for her? She's pretty and she already speaks Latin, so that should fetch a fine price, right?"

The man looked at me with thoughtfulness. He grabbed my chin and turned my head to see every angle, circled around me, patted me down, and looked at my face again, looking at my teeth, eyes, ears, and so on. When he was done, he looked thoughtful a little longer, then he finally said something.

"She is pretty, but that doesn't determine an asking price. Consumers are more interested in a slave's ability to do what they're told. People generally prefer not to have to train their slaves to be loyal."

"Just smack her a bit and she stays quiet." The other man nodded sarcastically.

"Yes, I can see that. But she's no good to an owner passed out, now is she? Slaves can't generally perform their duties when asleep."

"Just don't hit her hard enough to knock her out and she'll be fine." The other man was about to speak, but I interrupted.

"Sir, this is a big misunderstanding. I'm Italian, same as you and I don't belong here." Before I could further my point, the salesman slapped me across the face and I placed my hands over the spot and stared at him wide eyed.

"Your history is of no importance to me. You're in a slave market now and are to be sold, so I suggest you act accordingly. If you interrupt me again, you'll be whipped for your impudence. Am I clear?"

I was shaking now and I felt tears stinging my eyes. No one was going to listen to me. Eventually, I nodded my head and began to think about what might happen to me. Would they make me a house slave? A field slave? Or worse, a sex slave? I had no idea what would happen to me.

"I can't guarantee you'll get what you're hoping for, but if Lady Zitia likes her, you will get a nice price, I can assure you that."

"Who's Lady Zitia?"

"She's the woman that owns that brothel near the coliseum. It's a really high end place. Only higher class can be pleased by her whores."

"Sounds good. What do I have to do to get Lady Zitia to notice her?"

"Pretty her up. That's all. We can put her up there naked if you wish." The soldier smiled and nodded.

"If that'll increase my chances of getting a good price for her, I'm up for anything." The salesman nodded and wrote things down.

"That won't be necessary. I'm the one who you want to look at her and I'm here." We all looked towards the voice and saw a large woman with a bright red wig and a blue silk dress coming towards us. The salesman smiled and welcomed the approaching woman with open arms and a peck on each cheek.

"Zitia, my favorite customer. It's a pleasure to see you again."

"It's a pleasure to see you too, Romulus. So what's this new girl you want me to see?" The soldier that brought me here took a step back while the salesman, Romulus, led Lady Zitia to me.

"This is her, Zitia. I inspected her myself and she seems worthy." Lady Zitia walked over to me and inspected me the way Romulus had and was done in half the time. When she was done, she looked at the soldier.

"How much are you asking for her?" The soldier stayed businesslike when he stated his price.

"700 Gerri." When the soldier said that, Lady Zitia laughed out loud.

"You won't be selling her to me with an asking price like that. She's a beauty and I'm sure men would pay handsomely to fuck her, but she's not worth that much. She's not the only pretty piece of ass on these grounds in case you forgot." They were arguing. That was a good thing. She wouldn't buy me if she wasn't willing to pay the price. Romulus stepped in.

"Maybe 700 Gerri is a bit much, but perhaps we could come to a compromise. I'm sure she'll be well to your standards. I've never steered you wrong before." Lady Zitia smiled at Romulus before looking at the soldier again.

"You're lucky Romulus is taking your side, soldier. How about this? I'll give you 300 Gerri. That's a fair asking price and more than I usually pay for these slaves." The soldier looked reluctant at first.

"500." Lady Zitia shrugged.

"Good luck selling her."

"Wait!" Lady Zitia stopped for the soldier and he started looking a little more willing.

"350. Take it or leave it." They were all silent a moment. Then the soldier sighed and nodded his head. "Perfect." Then she turned to Romulus. "Wrap her up so I can take her home, Romulus, while me and the soldier handle the money details." Romulus nodded.

"Of course, Lady Zitia. I'm sure this girl will be your most profitable girl yet." Lady Zitia laughed.

"You say that about all the whores I buy." They shared a laugh together before Lady Zitia and the soldier went off to the side for the money transaction. Romulus came over to me and cleaned off my face a bit, ignoring what I could feel was a black eye.

Once Lady Zitia was done with the soldier, she snapped her fingers and two other men took a hold of my arms and led me with them to follow Lady Zitia. She took her spot on a little bed and the three slaves on each side lifted the bed and carried her where she wanted to go with me following closely behind. I looked around the city as we walked along. Everything was so big and epic. I felt humbled in this city. But I was far more concerned with the current circumstances to appreciate the beauty of Rome.

As we were walking, we went through a large open area that was surrounded by shops and children running around playing together. In the distance on a large stone stump was an elderly man reading off flat stones telling everyone the news of the day and anything important that needed to be addressed.

We walked through Rome for at least twenty minutes before we got anywhere near the coliseum. When I saw it, I was breathless. I could hear screams and applause coming from the fortress and tried to picture it. Father always told me and my sisters that one day he'd take us to the coliseum so we could see what it's like. I started crying when I thought about my family, knowing that I would never see them again. I went from the daughter of a drover and farmer to a slave with one sweep of a man's hand.

When we finally arrived where we were going, Lady Zitia got off her little moving bed and walked in. The two men holding me dragged me close behind her. She took a seat at a little desk and looked at the men holding me.

"Take her to the back and get her appropriately dressed. I'll be there in a minute to properly price her."

The men both bowed their heads and took me with them up a set of stairs and to a room that was to the left. They opened the door and threw me in there and closed the door behind them. I was the only one in the room and there were candles lit and a couch with throw pillows all over it. I waited five minutes before the door to the room opened again and Lady Zitia walked in.

"Alright, let's see what we've got here." She was mumbling more to herself than to me. Then she grabbed a hold of my hand and pulled me to my feet. "First things first. Have you ever coupled before?"

"I'm sorry?" She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Have you ever coupled, fucked, had sex, been penetrated, use your imagination and answer the damn question." I was shaking and I shook my head trying one last time to talk my way out of this.

"Please, Lady Zitia, you don't understand. I don't belong here. My father is a drover in Northern Italy. I'm not a slave girl, I'm of Italian blood. Please let me go."

"I said answer the god damn question!" I took a step back from her tone of voice. She looked really annoyed and didn't seem to have the patience for me. Reluctantly, I shook my head. "No, you've never coupled or no, you're not a virgin."

"No, I've never coupled." Then Lady Zitia smiled.

"Good. I haven't had a virgin in a while. I can charge extra for your first time." As she spoke, more tears were starting to flow. She saw them and closed the distance between us and roughly wiped away the tears. "I'll have none of that. You're a whore 'til the day you die, so get used to it. Understood?"

"Please let me go home." Then she slapped me and I covered the spot with my hands and kept my head to the side as I cried.

"Dracian." When she called the name, a man walked into the room.

"Yes Lady Zitia?"

"Give this girl five whips for being impudent." Dracian nodded his head and I stared at her wide eyed as she walked out of the room, then reached for something and threw it at Dracian before closing the door. In his hands was a whip. Once he had it, he unrolled the whip and looked at me.

"Off with it."

"What?"

"Take off the dress. Unless you don't mind me whipping you through your clothes. But I can promise you it goes by a lot faster without them. These things get caught in fabric and it only makes the blow hurt worse."

I didn't respond. I was too scared to say a word to answer him. He didn't give me a chance to try and recover myself before he walked over to me, forced me to turn around, and pushed me against the wall. I heard something make a whistling sound, then that sounds cracked and the sting on my back was horrible. I screamed at the first lash and screamed with each one that came after it. As he said, it took a long time to get through all five lashes because the spurs kept getting caught in my dress. It made them scratch my skin even more.

When the fifth lash was done, I heard him leave the room and I fell to the floor crying and in pain. A minute later, I heard the door open again and I looked over to see Lady Zitia again with her same little plaque and a pencil to carve through the wax on the plaque. I was shaking as she came over to me and forced me to my feet again. She ignored my yelp of pain from the force.

"Now that that's over with, let's get back to business. The sooner I sell your services to someone, the sooner I can start making money off you, so expect your first customer sometime today or tomorrow at latest. We serve only the wealthiest of consumers, so it's natural that we would only offer the finest women available. And if you get pregnant, you're to tell me immediately. Is that clear?"

"What happens if I'm pregnant?" I backed away after asking, not wanting to get slapped. Instead, she answered without looking up from her plaque.

"We get rid of it. I'm close friends with a woman that lives not far from here that's been a big help to me over the years. She gives me little elixirs that kill the baby and leave the mother in good health. As long as you don't drink too much of it, the baby's the only thing we'll be rid of." Then the door to the room opened and the man from before popped his head in and Lady Zitia looked over her shoulder at him.

"We have a customer, Lady Zitia. They're requesting to deal with you." Lady Zitia sighed.

"Why the hell can't you take care of him?"

"He said that he wants to speak with you and not a lowly slave." Lady Zitia rolled her eyes.

"Did you tell him you're not a slave, but my employee?" He nodded.

"Yes ma'am. He still wants to do business with you."

"Fine." Lady Zitia looked me over a few times, then smirked. "Get her in proper dress, Dracian. I think I might try and sell her." Dracian nodded.

"Yes ma'am." Dracian walked over to me and took me by the wrist to lead me to another room that was filled with chests. He walked over to one and opened it to take out a sheer dress. Then he threw it at me and I looked at it, being able to see right through it.

"You can't be serious."

"Dead serious. And don't give me lip or I'll have it on good authority to whip you again. Lady Zitia likes me, so if I decide to beat one of her slaves around, she won't care. Hell, she even let's me play with her whores if she's in a good mood when I ask. So I suggest you stay on my good side. Now put that on so we can get you downstairs."

He stood there and watched me, waiting for me to change out of my old clothes. I stood there holding the dress without doing anything until he made a move to come near me. I backed away and started changing so he wouldn't hurt me. When I was dressed, I felt dirty and common. It was an awful feeling.

"That's better. Now let's go. Lady Zitia's eager to get you started."

Once I was dressed, Dracian took my hand and led me down the stairs until we reached an archway that led into another room. He left me at the entrance and walked over to Lady Zitia and told her I was here. Lady Zitia smiled, nodded her head and shooed Dracian away before giving her attention back to the man she was speaking to.

"Good news. I have someone that we got just today. She's very pretty and I can promise that you won't be disappointed with her. I will have to charge extra since this'll be the first time she's ever coupled, but that's a small price to pay."

There was silence for a moment in the room. I leaned in so I could see the man in question. When I saw him, he looked thoughtful and he was old as dirt. His hair was grey, and his eyes were old and tired. I shuddered at the site of him. After thinking a moment, he nodded his head.

"Let me see her." Lady Zitia bowed her head.

"Certainly, sir." Then she looked towards us and clapped her hands. Dracian nudged me to go forward and I walked into the room slowly with Dracian behind me making sure I went.

"This is her?" The man asked. Lady Zitia nodded.

"Yes, this is her. Is she to your liking?"

"She's a pretty thing. You said she's a virgin, correct?"

"Yes, sir, that's what I said." The old man smirked and nodded approvingly.

"I haven't had a virgin in a while. How much is she?" I felt my stomach sink and I felt sink and was getting dizzy.

"1500." The man's eyes widened.

"You weren't lying when you said you were charging extra." Lady Zitia shook her head.

"Nothing but the finest sir, and you don't find first time whores every day. If it's more than you're willing to pay, I can simply bring out one of the others." The old man shook his head.

"That's quite alright. She's worth it. 1500 you said, right?"

"Indeed I did." Then she looked at me and Dracian, me staring wide eyed and feeling sick to my stomach. "Find a room for her and get her ready if you please, Dracian." Dracian bowed his head.

"Of course, ma'am." Then Dracian led me with him out of that room and back up the stairs to another room that had a bed draped in pillows and fine sheets with lit candles and a large mural of a couple in an awkward looking erotic position. "Wait up here for him." I turned to look at Dracian.

"How long will this take?"

"I don't know. Lady Zitia charges by the woman and extra per hour. The man has to pay 1500 Gerri and pays another 100 Gerri for every hour he's here. One time, we had a man that was here for a solid seven hours with four whores. She made 4700 Gerri from one person. That was a good day."

That did it. I lost any control and I felt food that wasn't there start forcing its way up my throat. Dracian groaned and rolled his eyes while nothing but water came from me and I fell to my knees losing all my strength. It was just water, but he still looked annoyed.

"Try not to do that in front of the costumer. They're all here to live a fantasy and fantasies don't get sick." Dracian shut the door behind him, leaving me alone again. I sat on the bed staring at my hands and feeling sick. I tried to breath, hoping it would make this seem a little less stressful. But nothing I did worked.

I waited a few minutes for the old man to get to the room I was in. When he did, I avoided eye contact with him. I wondered if not looking at him would make this less sickening for me or make it easier to pretend this wasn't happening. But he kneeled before me and forced me to look at him by putting his finger under my chin and lifting my face.

"Don't be nervous. It only hurts for a minute and never again after that." I couldn't understand how this man could tolerate talking at a time like this. I didn't answer him nor see the need to. "Now take off the dress and get on your hands and knees." That got my attention. I knew no one else had listened to me and he wouldn't either, but I still didn't want to take this without a fight.

"No." He'd been taking off the first layer of his robes when he looked at me with a surprised expression.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I won't do it. Lady Zitia can't make me and neither can you. So I suggest you go downstairs and ask for your money back, because you're not receiving anything from me." He looked at me with the same surprised expression before he started laughing. I scooted away from him while he laughed.

"You've got some nerve saying that to me, little girl." Despite the cruelness of what he was saying, he kept laughing anyway. "But since you're new, I won't get mad at you. Just do what I told you and I won't tell Lady Zitia about this. Though if I did, I'd probably get a hefty discount or better yet, a refund."

"Tell her. I don't care." He laughed again.

"Let me tell you something, little girl. When you're a slave, there's no room for pride. You may've had pride when you were living at home, but that doesn't work here. You're not a person anymore. You're a thing, an object, something for my amusement and any other man that's willing to pay a lot of money for you. And if you keep that attitude, most of your costumers will beat you senseless and rap you to boot. So here's how it'll go. You either do as I say without argument and I won't tell Lady Zitia about this, or you can keep arguing with me, be raped because I intend to have you either way, and get a lashing from Dracian later for being so rude to a costumer. So tell me, girl, which would you rather have? And choose wisely, because it's the last choice you'll ever have."

I was quiet and staring at the old man for a few minutes, stunned into silence. All I needed to do was move and I could feel the memory of being whipped. I didn't want that again, especially after having it done once already today. But then I would be giving up and letting this man take advantage of me. It would be like me admitting that I was no longer a human being. So I ignored the pain in my back and tried not to think about what was to come and looked at the old man with as serious and hard a face as I could muster. I could try and fight him off as best I could and I would be proud of the last choice I made the last time I had it.

"I said no." He laughed a little again and shook his head.

"That was a very stupid choice, little girl. Very stupid, indeed."

I fought him off for as long as I could. There wasn't anything I could use to defend myself against him except my own two hands. I punched him away from me and bit his wrists when he grabbed onto me. I bit into his wrist and pushed him away when I tasted blood. He yelled in pain and grabbed one of the sheets and tore it as fast as he could to cover the wound. But the blood was flowing too quickly and the exertion was only making him bleed more. Before I knew it, the door to the room flew open, Dracian in the doorway, and the old man fell to the ground.

"What the fuck did you do?!" He ran to the old man and wrapped his wrist in the sheets, tearing them the rest of the way.

"He attacked me."

"That's no fucking excuse! Do you have any idea what this could lead to?! Lady Zitia's really proud of this place and worked hard to get it on its feet! This'll only bring bad publicity and she'll lose costumers and a whore that she paid good money for!" Then Lady Zitia came in, saw what I'd done, then started screaming herself.

"You stupid girl! This man could die because of you! Do you know how that'll make me look?!"

"I don't care! I'm not your whore and I won't be treated like one!" Lady Zitia yelled at me, then backhanded me right across my face, sending me flying to the ground. Then she looked at Dracian.

"You tell Broly to go get a doctor now! When he's off, I want you to come back and give this little bitch as many lashings as it takes. I don't want you to stop until she doesn't have a back anymore! Now go!"

Dracian nodded in a panicked manner, then ran out of the room and yelled at someone to get a doctor. A bunch of other women came to the room, some more clothed than others, and they all gasped and looked at me when they saw what I'd done. I tried bringing myself to my feet, but Lady Zitia kicked me down again, then looked at the other women.

"What are you all looking at?! Get back to your rooms!" All the women that had been at the door scattered and ran back to their rooms as ordered. I assumed those were the other whores that lived here.

Lady Zitia left after Dracian came back with the whip in hand. Lady Zitia repeated her orders to Dracian and slammed the door shut, letting us all know how mad about this she was. When she was gone, Dracian forced me to my feet and against the wall and started whipping me. It hurt even worse than before since the whip was hitting against fresh wounds. I counted twenty lashes before he stopped and I saw my back in a mirror. It was covered in blood. I couldn't even see my back anymore, just red. When he was done, he came to me and dragged me with him again.

"Now take a shower and clean off that blood. And clean your face too."

Then he threw me into another room that was steamy and already had some other women in there talking. They looked at me and some of them made faces while others laughed to themselves. One of them, a brunette with an odd, heavy accent that was sitting on the ledge of the tub. She looked at me with an odd smirk that was mixed with a look of pity.

"We've wanted to do that to him for years." Another woman who was sitting right next to her and was redheaded nodded in agreement.

"We hated him." Then a woman with black hair turned in the tube to look at me.

"It's a shame that you had to get whipped though. That'll take forever to heel." That same woman than pulled herself out of the tub and, without bothering to cover herself, walked over to me and took a gentle hold of my hand. "Some hot water will only help. There's one that's not occupied, so you can use that one."

The woman led me to a tub that was next to the one all the other women were in. When I was standing in front of it, she let go of me and went back to the tub with the others and they all went about their business. I sighed and took off my dress and stepped into the hot water. I inched in, knowing the water would be excruciating. And when my back started touching the water, the stinging began and I scrunched my eyes and grinded my teeth to keep from screaming.

It was a few minutes, but the pain did eventually go away. The water was turning red because of the cuts and it made me feel sick again. The woman from earlier told me to stay in the water for a few minutes before trying to get out. The cuts needed time to clot. I sat in the tub patiently waiting for the blood to stop flowing. Five minutes later, I was finally able to come out of the tub and the redhead from earlier came to me and covered my wounds with cloth and alcohol.

"I'm not sure whether to call you brave or stupid." I smiled at her heavy accent. I wasn't sure what it was.

"So where are you from?"

"Me? I don't know. I came here when I was little. They killed my mother, father, sister, and they took me. What about you? You don't sound like you're from out of Italy."

"I'm not. I'm from Northern Italy."

"Wow. An Italian becomes a slave. I never thought I'd see the day. Then again, you're not Roman, so it doesn't really count to them I guess." I shook my head.

"Evidently not. I've tried talking, but no one listens to me." All the women in the bathroom laughed and snickered to themselves, even the redhead helping me.

"Of course not. You're a slave now, no matter what your previous history. But I suggest you start behaving. You keep this up and they'll cut through your whole torso with that whip." I sighed.

"So what, I just give up? I'm not a thing, I'm a human being."

"We all are. But they don't see it that way. And truthfully, getting whipped isn't worth it. So believe me, you'll be better off if you stop fighting it." I didn't answer her. I didn't want to admit she was right. "I never asked what your name is."

"Chelsea." The redhead stepped in front of me when she was done dressing my cuts and smiled.

"I'm Gail." Then she pointed at the brunette that had first spoken to me. "That's Celeba." Then the black haired girl. "That's Foe." I looked at Gail with a strange expression.

"Foe?" Gail nodded.

"Unique, I know." I looked at Foe and she smiled.

"I've wanted to change it for years." I laughed a little at her joke and she just smiled in return.

Gail introduced me to all the women and told me how long they'd been here and some of their stories. When we left the bathroom and walked around a bit, she introduced me to a few of the male whores and introduced me to everyone else later in the night when most weren't working.

We found out the next day that I didn't kill the old man. He lost a lot of blood and was unconscious for a long time, but he came to in the morning thanks to a good doctor and an offering of a white rabbit. Lady Zitia was still furious me, and she didn't give me another customer for a whole week. I wasn't sure how that was punishing me, but I didn't argue with it and went with the flow. But after seven days with nothing, Lady Zitia made me come down with a few other whores and showed us off to another customer. This one was younger, but still was much older than me.

"Now this one is still a virgin, so she's certainly a rare catch." The man laughed a little.

"Isn't that the one that attacked old Julian?" Lady Zitia stiffened and reluctantly nodded.

"But she's gotten a good beating for that little mishap."

"Hardly a mishap. Julian nearly died."

"I know. If she's not to your liking, we've got several other selections from you to choose one." The man grinned at me and shook his head.

"I like a challenge. I'll take her. But let me take in a sword just in case." Lady Zitia nodded her head and I felt sick again.

"Of course, master. Anything you like." Then she looked at me.

"Go get ready." I was still a moment and shaking. She didn't tolerate it and nodded her head at Dracian to come and grab me. Dracian pulled me with him to a room upstairs and threw me in.

"Please don't screw this up this time. If you do, Lady Zitia will just give you to the dogs" Dracian closed the door behind him and left me alone in a room again.

I waited a few minutes and sat on the bed trying to keep my food down. I wasn't sure what I would do. My back couldn't handle another lashing, but I didn't want to give up just yet. And this man was far more able bodied. He could easily stand up to me, so hand to hand fighting was out of the case. And he was bringing in a sword that he would no doubt have by his side at all times. When the door opened, I looked up and saw the man from earlier with that sword in question on his hip. When the door was closed, he kept grinning at me.

"You're one of the feisty ones, huh? I like feisty." I was shaking, I knew it. As he walked closer, and crawled further away from him and he took off his robes before following me.

"No." My voice was weak this time as I spoke and he laughed and grabbed my ankle and pulled me to him until he was on top and had a firm grip on both my wrists in his one hand.

"Do you really want to do that? Arguing won't make me stop. It'll just make me angry."

I didn't say anything else. There was nothing I could say. When I didn't answer him, he grinned wider and took that as a sign that I was finally being submissive and got to his business. I didn't move a muscle the whole time. He would move me around, force me to sit up in a certain position and he would make my body move the way he wanted, but it was all him forcing me.

When he penetrated me, I screamed out from the pain of it. He ignored me and went on like nothing was wrong. It hurt for most of the coupling until the pain was at long last gone. But even when the pain was gone, I still felt like I was hurting. I felt gross and unclean and defiled. I wanted so badly for it to be over, but it wasn't over soon enough. When he was finally done, he threw me onto the bed, got dressed, and walked out, leaving me there on the floor.

"So did you have fun?" I looked up at saw that Dracian had come to the room and he was smirking. I didn't answer him. When my silence was too much for him, he walked over to me and kneeled down. "He wasn't thrilled. He said you were too limp and weren't really into it."

I still didn't answer him. I didn't care what that man thought about it. I realized I didn't care about anything. Not right now, anyway. I'd given up and gave into fear for my life. I was sick and angry with myself for it.

"Ignoring me isn't going to make it go away, you know. It's a problem and it has to be fixed with the utmost speed. And if you'd be a little more interactive, I'd be happy to help you with that."

"Go fuck yourself, you pig." It barely registered in my mind that I'd said that. I was hardly aware of what was going on around me. I didn't even care that Dracian looked at me with a look of death.

"I have you for that." Then he grabbed a hold of my hair and pulled me up to a sitting position.

I didn't fight him or participate in any way. I didn't even scream or even wince when he smacked my back. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction. I just laid there and moved where he forced me to move without even making a sound. When an hour went by and he couldn't get me to react the way he wanted, he lost his patience, finished with me, and left me in the room.

I'd become so distant since coming to the brothel that I lost all interest in anything. I never talked to anyone at the brothel, not even Gail, who was so kind to me when I first came here. I pretty much just stayed in a corner to myself until Lady Zitia demanded I join the line to be looked at. It was strange for the men to look at us like a line of animals. I suppose that's all we were to them.

A month went by and I noticed something very troubling. My womanly cycles were late. Really late. As ordered from the beginning, I went to Lady Zitia and told her that I suspected I was pregnant. She only sighed like it was something she dealt with all the time and looked in the corner.

"Dracian. Take Chelsea to Tiberia and tell her she needs some abortion elixir." Dracian nodded.

"Yes, ma'am." That said, he pushed me with him out of the brothel and held my hand down the street. It was so strange for him to hold my hand. It seemed intimate and it made me uncomfortable. "So you're knocked up, I see."

"It looks that way."

"Do you think it's mine?" I shrugged. I couldn't believe how calm I was being. I was yelling at myself to feel something, but I couldn't.

"I don't know. I've been with so many men just this month, it's hard to say." He nodded.

"True. I wouldn't want it anyway. If I don't want a wife, why would I want kids, am I right?" He laughed a little at his own joke and I only forced a smile. "I don't see the point in having just one, you know. There's no spice or excitement in just one."

"I guess working at a brothel works well to that desire."

"It does. I just wish you girls didn't get pregnant. Imagine the money Lady Zitia would save if she didn't bother with the elixirs. I happen to know that some men have a fetish for pregnant women, but then she thinks that's tacky and doesn't want that in her brothel."

"What would she even do with the babies?"

"Same thing most of the other brothels do. Throw it in the sewers and wish it a safe journey." I finally felt a sting of something then. That was the most horrible thing I'd ever heard. I was eager to abort this child now. At least it's death would be quick and painless this way as opposed to slow from drowning in fesses infested sewers.

"Does that happen a lot?" Dracian shrugged.

"I'm not really sure how often it happens. I never tried keeping track of that crap."

"Aren't you the one that takes the girls to get abortions?"

"Most of the time. If she trusts them enough, she'll send them off to do it themselves. Of course, she doesn't trust you enough, hence the reason I'm coming with you." I sighed.

"Whatever makes her feel comfortable." I looked at me and smirked.

"She's a lot happier with you now. She was scared she'd have to get rid of you and wasted 350 Gerri on you that she wouldn't get back. But you've been very good lately and she's thrilled about it. Now if only you were more responsive."

"I'm as responsive as they need."

"Sitting there doing nothing isn't being responsive. The reason men will come to brothels is because they don't want to work for sex for once. And that's what you're making them do, work." I shrugged.

"And yet they keep picking me."

"But you haven't had any call-backs. No one who's come to the brothel before and had you and coming back is asking for you again. Normally, we'll have men that will have a usual girl. Like Foe. She's Prefect Tibirian's favorite. He mixes it up sometimes, but he prefers to have Foe. He's actually gotten buddy, buddy with her since he started using her. We've even had circumstances where a customer will like a whore so much that he buys her from the brothel. They have to pay three times as much, but Lady Zitia doesn't mind. She just goes to the market the next day and gets a new girl."

"Is that why she got me?" Dracian nodded.

"Yep. We had a whore named Fidelle that had Council Titius Edevus for a regular. His wife recently passed away and he didn't want to feel lonely, so he bought Fidelle and took her home. Think of it like buying a dog."

"How wonderful." My voice was sarcastic and Dracian laughed at my tone.

"Don't be so solon, Chelsea. It's not as bad as it sounds. Chances are if they're willing to pay up to 5000 Gerri for you, they care enough about you to treat you well."

"I thought we were all 1000." Dracian shook his head.

"You are. But that's because of what you did to the Senator and because you tend to be unresponsive. Lady Zitia will increase the price of you when people started being more satisfied by you."

"Can't wait." He laughed lightly at my sarcastic tone again and shook his head.

"Just remember something, Chelsea. I enjoy your sarcasm, but not everyone will. Until you know the client well enough, it's best to shut up and spread your legs."

"Isn't that what I already do?"

"That's all you do." Then Dracian dragged me off the street and between two buildings and pulled me in far enough that only the homeless could see us. "And you don't seem to listen to me when I try to get you to do otherwise."

"I'm a slow learner, I guess." He smirked at my response and shrugged, bringing his face closer to mine.

"I'll have fun teaching you at least." Then he kissed me. It was the same as any of them, cold and hungry with nothing behind it except empty lust.

I'd become used to this. It sickened me that I could tolerate this already and that I'd stopped fighting them. My back was almost completely healed by now from the whip, but the pain always remained in my mind and it made me scared to react and fight. So when Dracian kissed me, I simply closed my eyes and let him do what he wanted without a sound.

After a few minutes of forceful kisses and teeth and tongue, he forced my right leg to wrap around his hip and that hand stayed on my thigh. He forced my dress up to my waist and entered me and moved quickly in me. The coupling was over as quickly as it began. He moved for a few minutes and when he came, he was still a moment, then took his lips away from mine and readjusted our clothes. When everything was back in place, he looked at me and sighed.

"It would make me feel better if you'd at least pretend that I'm getting somewhere with you."

"Sorry, Dracian." He looked at me a moment before he rolled his eyes and took my hand again.

"I'll get you to soon enough. You'll at least be happy to know you won't be working for a few days. Tiberia recommends that women not have sex for at least a week after the abortion. She says your bodies need to heal or something." Simply out of curiosity, I asked.

"What happens if they do?" He stopped and looked at me.

"I don't know. You want to find out?" I shook my head.

"That's alright. I'll take her word for it." He smirked again and continued the way to Tiberia's shop and pulled me in front of him before we walked in. There was a little old woman standing behind the desk that scared me. She reminded me of a wrinkly scarecrow and she was boney like one too. When she saw Dracian, she smiled.

"Pregnant again?" Dracian nodded.

"Yep. She's late." Tiberia looked down my figure and smiled.

"Good. You caught it early. That'll make this much easier for you." She turned to a little shelf behind her and reached up for a small vile of something and turned back to us and handed it to me. "Put this in your drink. You must drink all of it or it won't work. You'll feel discomfort for a few hours afterwards, but as soon as you lose the baby, you'll feel fine. And remember, your body needs to heal, so you're to not work for at least seven days." I nodded my head.

"Yes ma'am." She smiled, then looked at Dracian.

"Five silver pieces." He nodded with a smile.

"As always." Dracian took a little purse from his belt and took out five silver pieces. When Tiberia had her money, we both walked out of the shop and walked back to the brothel. "Take that as soon as we get back. I'll even ask Lady Zitia to let you have it with wine. Drinking can only help the situation."

"Sure." He laughed a little again.

"Wow. That's the first time I've ever heard a whore not care about wine." I shrugged.

"It's not that special."

"That's the first time I've heard that from anyone." He laughed and turned to look at me. "If you'd rather have water, that's fine too. But trust me, you're going to want wine."

"Why?"

"Because. Whenever we do this, the whore feels a lot of pain in her abdomen. They compare it to period pains. And if you're far enough along, you actually see the aborted baby when it gets out of you. It's really sickening."

"Why do you care?" He shrugged.

"I'm just trying to be nice."

"Dracian, you've beaten me, you've raped me, and you've pretty much turned me into your ass-toy. I think we're past you bothering to be nice to me." He looked at me a moment and sighed.

"Maybe. But that doesn't mean I can't occasionally be in a generous mood." Then he started walking us back again. Then a thought came into my head that I felt compelled to ask.

"How many of the whores do you think you've gotten pregnant?" He just shrugged.

"It's hard to say. I don't sleep with all of them. Just you, Celeba, and Betricia. You're the ones I like the most. And I'm not the only men you girls sleep with, so if one of you ends up pregnant, it could easily be mine or anyone else's."

"And it doesn't bother you that you might be letting me kill your kid?"

"I don't know it's my kid. It probably isn't. Besides, I hate kids. I just told you that not long ago." I sighed.

"I guess I should've figured."

"Don't worry about it, Chelsea. The minute you start caring about the little bastard, that's when you lose your mind. And no one likes a guilty looking whore." I forced my hand out of his then. I didn't want him touching me anymore.

He looked over to make sure I was still there and didn't react any further than to give me a face that was disapproving. I walked ahead of him and he followed after me keeping an eye on me as we went home. As soon as we got back, he got me a cup of wine and I poured the stuff in my drink. An hour after I took the elixir, I started feeling cramping that reminded me of my menstrual cycles. The pain lasted for about three hours and finally stopped an hour after I felt something pass. I didn't look. I knew what it was and I didn't want to see it. Knowing I had just killed my first child was one thing. Seeing it would've been too much for me to handle.

When it was all over, I went to one of the rooms and sat on the bed staring blankly. Sitting there in silence left me the freedom for my thoughts to go wild. All I thought about was what I'd just done. I was getting sick again and eventually, guilt consumed me and I couldn't stop myself from crying. I didn't look up when the door to the room opened and didn't even react when I felt someone hold onto me as I cried.

I didn't look up until I was out of tears and I stared wide eyed at Dracian. He looked annoyed if anything, but he was being calm and he was holding me securely and in a non-romantic way. I was so stunned by him doing this for me that I was still for a few seconds. When all I did was staring at him, he started petting my hair.

"I just thought you could use a shoulder to cry on. Better I find you like this than Lady Zitia."

"Thanks I guess." My voice was small and still mostly shocked that he was trying to comfort me.

"You guess? Is it that odd that someone like me would feel pity?"

"It's more odd that you feel pity for a lowly slave." He laughed a little to himself and shook his head.

"Well, if it's worth anything, you're sort of my favorite." My eyes widened more.

"Why?" He laughed again at my tone.

"Because I love a challenge."

"What challenge? You don't have to earn me or anything. Lady Zitia lets you have your way with us as you please." He shrugged.

"Yeah, but you're the one that never seems to respond to me. At least the others pretend to like it. You don't even bother. I'm sort of hoping to break you of that for the sake of Zitia's customers and for the sake of my own inflated ego."

"So you're comforting me because you're trying to get me to inflate your ego?"

"Sort of." I stared at him appalled for a minute, then just slapped him across the face and ran out of the room. I hoped I hit him hard enough that his face would sting for a few minutes.

I went to the bathroom and stepped into the hot tub. Foe and Celeba were there talking, but I didn't say anything to them when I got in. I just took off my dress, sat in the tub, and bit hard on my lip to stay dry eyed. I think they knew I was upset, though I think they just thought it was only because of getting rid of the baby. It's better they think that. They left me alone and let me grieve.

I stayed in the tub longer than I normally would. I didn't end up getting out until my skin started to prune really bad. When I stepped out of the tub and was dried off and dressed, I walked out and went to one of the rooms and tried going to bed. Later, I was joined by Foe, who took a spot next to me in bed.

"How are you feeling?" I shrugged.

"Not great." Foe rubbed my arm soothingly.

"I know how you feel. Really, I do. I've killed so many that I don't even feel like a human being anymore."

"How many is that?" Foe sighed and I heard her start crying.

"Seven."

"Wow." Foe nodded.

"I know. I cried for days when I killed the first one. But after that, I couldn't cry about it anymore. And now, because of that, I feel even worse about it. It's like I'm not human anymore."

"At least she doesn't make us have the baby and kill it later. Dracian told me that some brothel owners do that." Foe nodded.

"Yeah, I know. But either way, it hurts. You're killing something that's your own flesh and blood and it tears you apart inside. I still lay in bed at night wondering what they would've been like if they'd lived. I've even named them all."

"That just makes you feel worse."

"I know. There isn't a day that goes by that I wish I could have them. All seven."

"Even if you don't know who the fathers are?"

"I know who the father usually is. Prefect Tibirian. He tries to keep me to himself for the most part. Sometimes, someone else will buy my services, but Lady Zitia made me really expensive, so it's not often."

"And he knows?" Foe nodded.

"Yeah, he knows. His wife doesn't know that he comes here, so me getting pregnant would get him in trouble. And his wife has too much influence for their marriage to end in divorce."

"If he doesn't want to get in trouble, then why does he risk it?" Foe sighed.

"Because he likes me better than his wife, plain and simple. And he likes talking to me about things that go wrong with his marriage. When he's here, if he picks any woman to sleep with that isn't me, it's because he doesn't want to talk and he wants it rough. He's never rough with me. He thinks I'm too delicate to have roughly."

"How sweet." Foe laughed under her breath at my sarcastic tone.

"He likes me, what else can I say? He tells me that he's planning to buy me one day. I don't know how true that is, but at least I know that if he did, I would be in good hands."

"That's good at least."

"Just try not to think about today. Don't be like me and sulk about it. You'll only make yourself miserable."

"Thanks, Foe, for everything. I know I don't usually really talk to any of you guys." She shook her head.

"Don't worry about it. You're adjusting to this and that takes a while. We never expected you to open up right away. Betricia still doesn't talk to anyone. She's been here for years and she still refuses to let anyone in or talk to them."

"How interesting that Dracian likes her so much." Foe shrugged.

"He usually goes to her when he wants someone that does what she's told, does it well, and shuts up. Celeba is the one he goes to when he's in the mood for something more animated."

"And he likes me because I'm a challenge."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't respond to him. He's trying to get me to at least pretend I'm enjoying myself and I simply refuse to." Foe sighed.

"Don't let Dracian bother you. He likes to think really highly of himself when he doesn't deserve to."

"I know. I figure if I'm not responsive, I'm not giving him the satisfaction." Foe giggled.

"You know what you should do?" I shrugged.

"I don't know. What?"

"Next time you have a client, you should be as animated with him as possible and be completely unresponsive whenever Dracian wants you. That'll piss him off something awful." I grinned at Foe's idea. That would be a great way to get back at him for what he said to me. Two could play the prick game.

"That's a great idea. I should." Foe and I laughed together a moment before we stopped talking for the night and tried to fall asleep.

Lady Zitia didn't give me any clients for the rest of the week via demands of Tiberia. But as soon as the designated seven days were up, Lady Zitia brought me down whenever we had a client and let them choose from the collection. I got two clients in one day that first time and I did as Foe suggested. I swallowed my pride and was as animated as possible and pretended I liked every minute, even if I didn't. No matter what they demanded, I did it with a bog, seductive smile on my face.

When they were done, both customers that I had that day told Lady Zitia great things about me and that they looked forward to enjoying me again. Lady Zitia was thrilled to death about this and even let me have decent food for dinner that night to reward me. After dinner, I went to the bathroom with the others and we all took our daily baths together. They teased for all the noise I made with my two clients, but I teased them back for doing the same. It was nice to talk to them all and to tease each other. It felt a little like having sisters again.

I always thought about my family, but I tried to keep that brief. If I thought about it too much, then I would get sad. I wanted to avoid that as much as possible. After the bath, we went to our own rooms for the night as Lady Zitia ordered. Normally, Dracian went home by this time, so I wasn't expecting him to come into my room as soon as I picked one.

"I hear you made two customers very happy today." He said with a big smirk. I gave him the same, apathetic expression as always and nodded.

"That's what I hear."

"Does this mean that you're finally listening to me?" I shrugged.

"I suppose." He grinned even wider and walked over to me.

"I'm surprised, actually. I half expected you to be a complete wreck for the next few months, what with getting rid of the baby and all. I know how emotional that shit can be for a woman."

"Nothing worth crying about." I almost chocked on those words, but I kept that to myself while he smiled.

"Glad to hear it." He walked over to me and took me in his arms.

His lips met mine and my eyes closed. I'd already prepared to do nothing, so that's exactly what I did. At first, he didn't notice me not putting anything into the kiss. It was just his mouth moving against mine. Then he started adding to the kiss by using his tongue and teeth. That's when I think he noticed I wasn't responding. I wasn't sure what the result would be of this whole thing, but no matter what it was, I would be satisfied because I was hitting below the belt.

When he kissed me for a few minutes and I still wasn't contributing at all, he became more aggressive and pushed me against the wall, trying to startle me. When that didn't work, he applied more pressure by resting as much of his weight on me as he could. All that did was suffocate me and make me tear my mouth away from his so I could breath.

"You're fucking with me aren't you?" I tried to fight a laugh and keep my face indifferent.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about." He pushed back and made me slam against the wall again and he walked away from me. "So that's the game you're playing, huh? You'll do for everyone but me. That's low, Chelsea."

"I'm sorry." His nose was twitching now. I suppose that was something he did when he was really mad.

"What are you trying to get back at me for? You're doing this for some reason."

"I'm not doing anything I don't usually do." His nose kept twitching, but then he smiled.

"And playing innocent to boot. How cute. You're not dealing with a newborn baby, Chelsea. I know how women tend to think and you're nothing special. I said or did something that pissed you off and now you're getting back at me by being great in bed with strangers but staying the same limp noodle with me." I finally smirked and I think it made him madder.

"Glad I'm easy." He took a deep, calming breath before responding.

"Dick move, Chelsea. Dick move."

"As long as it hit below the belt."

"Believe me, it does. I'm shocked that you have the balls to do that. I admire the courage, or stupidity, whichever it is. But you don't honestly think I'll take this laying down, do you?" I shook my head.

"I didn't think so, but I don't care about that. As long as I got the satisfaction of making you feel like less of a man." He laughed this time and his nose stopped twitching.

"I'll get the better of you, Chelsea, no matter what. But for now, just shut up and spread those legs like you're supposed to."

I backed away from him best I could when he approached me again and forced a kiss. And while he did what he wanted, he took every opportunity he could to hit me. He was sure not to mark me with a bruise. Lady Zitia hated it whenever we had bruises and preferred to avoid things like that. He forced any extra movement that he wanted from me, but I was as unresponsive with him as always. When he was done, he hit me one last time to vent, then plopped on the bed next to me.

"You'll crack one of these days, Chelsea. Just watch." I smiled to myself with my back facing him.

"Bring it, bitch."


	6. At World's End

**At World's End**

**Rome, 73 b.c.**

The man I was servicing was almost finished with me. I was on all fours waiting for him to be done with it, moaning so he'd think I was having fun. When he was finally done, he almost fell onto his back and groaned loudly. I stepped away and put back on my dress while the man tried to recover himself.

"That was incredible." I smiled my sweetest smile, knowing that was the smile that seemed to do the best for me.

"I'm thrilled you enjoyed yourself, sir. Lady Zitia will be thrilled too."

The man stayed in the bed for a little longer while I walked out and went straight to the bath. Foe and Betricia were there too and had just finished with their customers. Foe had been visited by Prefect Tibirian and had spent a good five hours with him. Betricia was laughing about it with Foe smiling.

"How do you make him stay here for five whole hours? Is his marriage that miserable?" Foe shrugged as I stepped into the tub.

"He talks about that enough. It's not that he hates his wife, he just never loved her. He prefers to talk about politics, though. It's more his thing."

"How much time is spent talking with you two?" Foe shrugged.

"Sometimes, we'll talk for at least two hours before we do anything." Betricia's eyes widened.

"Do I sense a possibility of being bought?" Foe shrugged.

"He's never brought it up with me." Betricia grinned and nodded her head approvingly.

"He will, I'm sure of it. How old is his wife? Do you think anything will happen to her any time soon?" Foe looked at Betricia disapprovingly.

"I would never wish for something to happen to her! She's not a bad person. Tibirian is just unhappy because they were never in love. They married out of convenience, that's all it was." I offered my opinion then.

"Do you think he might buy you and keep you as a house slave?" Foe shook her head.

"His wife is an incredibly jealous type. They only have ugly female slaves and ugly male slaves. From the few of them I've seen, they all have facial deformities."

"That's an interesting pattern to pick." Foe shrugged.

"His wife does all the shopping, so it's really her pattern." Betricia giggled.

"Do you even know his wife's name?" Foe nodded.

"Pompeia. She comes from a wealthy military family and her brother currently resides in the senate."

"How does a military family end up with a kid in the senate?"

"Good luck, approval from the Gods, and lots of promotions and gaining rank. Eventually, a man can become important enough to be able to run for senate. That's what Pompeia's bother did and that's what Tibirian is doing now. He wants to get into the senate one day."

We stopped talking about that after Foe's last statement. Neither Betricia or I wanted to talk about something like that. It made us both realize how unlikely that it would ever happen to us. In the two years I'd been at the brothel, I've had regulars, but none of them seemed to have enough interest in me to want to buy me. And I wouldn't want any of my regulars to buy me anyway. Most of them were old and disgusting. And Dracian was another matter entirely.

I had a feeling that if he could afford me, he would buy me just to prove a point. He'd seemed to become very possessive of me in the last two years. Lady Zitia didn't seem to mind in the least. Dracian had even convinced her to increase my price seeing as I had been a good whore. I wasn't sure how true that was, but the higher price did at least make men a little less likely to choose me.

When we were all done with our bath, we got out and went to our rooms with little to do but wait for another customer. The bath was really the only place where we could all talk without Lady Zitia yelling at us for being unproductive. When I got to my room, I closed the door and took a seat on the bed and played with a piece of tied up string that I'd made. It worked better when there was someone to play with, but I settled with making shapes by myself. I ignored the door when I heard it open and kept making shapes with the string.

"You know, my sister's cat does the same thing." I looked up at Dracian questioningly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Plays with string. My sister's cat plays with string a lot too." I nodded.

"A lot of cats do. It's a form of entertainment, or in my case, it's something to keep me occupied." I didn't bother giving him a form of acknowledgement that I understood what he was talking about. I simply gave my attention back to my string toy and kept making figures.

Dracian smiled a little and took a seat next to me on my bed and started playing with me. He took the string from me the way my sisters used to and maneuvered the string around until he made a broom. He held it out for me so I could take it too. I was a little cautious at first before I took the string in my fingers and manipulated it into a cat.

"I've never been able to make a cat."

"My sister taught me how to do it."

"How many sisters did you have?"

"Two. Antonia and Niobe. Antonia was the one to master this game and taught me and Niobe how to play."

"My big brother taught me how to play this game. He died in battle a few years back." I looked away from him and started making a new figure.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. My brother died a hero, that's all that matters." Then he took the string from me and tried forming a new figure. This time, he made a sideways model of the coliseum. "Beat this." I rolled my eyes and took the string through my fingers and maneuvered the string into a smaller building. He laughed.

"What?"

"I gave you the coliseum and you give me a puny nameless building?" I rolled my eyes again and threw the string at him.

"It's not fun if you turn it into a competition. It's a pastime game, no more. Stop turning everything into a brawl." Then I moved onto the bed and turned so I was facing the wall and laid down wanting to go to sleep.

"It's not my fault you're a sore loser."

"It's not about being a sore loser. It's about you being a prick when I'm trying to pass the time." He laughed a little and moved closer to me.

"I could think of a much better way to pass the time if that's what you're wanting to do." Then he wrapped his arms around me, but I pushed him away from me.

"Get off me. You had me this morning, you're done."

"Don't be pushy, Chelsea. I say when I've had enough of you."

"No, I say when you've had enough of me. And I've had too many men between my legs today and I'm tired of being humped. Now get off me and leave me alone."

"You only had four customers."

"Yes, and that's four more than I would like." Dracian laughed a little and laid down on the bed next to me.

"I think you're starting to get a little too comfortable with me."

"Didn't you want me to be comfortable with you?" He shrugged.

"I had a different kind of comfortable in mind." I rolled my eyes.

"You're asking me to be okay with being a whore?"

"I'm not asking you to be okay with being a whore. I'm asking you to be okay with me. That's all that matters."

"Beggars can't be choosers, Dracian."

"Beggars can't me, but paying customers can." I turned my head to look at him with a confused expression.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm saving up my money. I'm planning to buy you."

"Why?" He grinned.

"I just don't like sharing you anymore. I've already talked to Lady Zitia about it. She said that she'd give me a big discount for you and wants me to find a slave to replace you."

"Why would you want to buy me when you already get me for free?" He laughed a little.

"Like I said, I don't want to share you anymore. And I was planning to put you to other uses."

"Such as…"

"Cooking, cleaning, running little errands for me so I don't have to worry about them, rub my shoulders when I've had a bad day. You know, that kind of thing." My face only became more confused.

"So, basically, you're asking me to marry you." I expected him to give me a weird look, which he did. What I didn't expect was the burst of laughter that followed it. I'd never seen him laugh this hard since the day I met him. He just kept laughing and laughing until he couldn't breathe anymore. When he had enough control back, he finally spoke again.

"You think I want to marry you? And here, I thought you were one of the smarter whores here." I responded as he kept laughing.

"I said basically. I never said you actually were. But what you are doing is turning me into a housewife with no strings attached. What's next, you'll ask me to bare your children? I don't think so."

"Whoever said anything about kids? I just want you to be a house slave that I just happen to sleep with. What's so complicated about this?" I groaned and rolled my eyes.

"Whatever, I don't care. It's not like my opinion matters anyway."

"No, it doesn't. You tend to forget your place and that's caused you a lot of problems. And don't think that just because I've taken a liking to you means I won't get on your case about back talking me or being rude to me. You're a slave now and you'll always be a slave unless I sign the papers that say otherwise."

"And you'll never do that, will you?"

"What do you think?" I didn't respond at all. He wasn't telling me anything new, so there was nothing to say. "Now that we have that out of the way, turn over will you?"

"I said I don't want to."

"Well, I don't care if you don't want to."

Without another word, he forced me to face him and he went about what he wanted to do. I fought him for a few minutes, but that only seemed to encourage him, so I stopped altogether. That clearly annoyed him, but he didn't say anything about it this time. He just kept doing what he wanted to do and that was that. When he was done, he laid back down next to me and I turned away from him.

"Think about it, Chelsea. Instead of having clients all day, you'd only have me. And I'm at work most of the day."

"You're here most of the day because you're fooling around with me. With me at your place instead of at the brothel, you'll be around your home more often and less at the brothel. Unless, of course, you plan to keep up the other two women you usually sleep with." I shook his head.

"No such luck, Chelsea. They don't thrill me like you do." I rolled my eyes.

"Lucky me." Dracian laughed at my sarcasm and started petting my hair.

"See? What other master would you ever find that would be willing to put up with your incessant rudeness?"

After he said that, he left the bed and walked out of the room, leaving me alone again. I didn't bother putting out the candle. I just stayed in bed and let the candle go out on its own. Lady Zitia would be mad that I wasted a candle, but that was the least of my cares. I finally fell asleep after the candle ran out and woke up to someone's foot on my stomach. I woke up with a startled screech and saw Dracian with his foot on my stomach and a smile.

"Morning, Chelsea. Time for another day's work." I sneered at him and grabbed onto his foot and pushed him off me. He lost his balance and fell to the ground with a loud boom. I picked myself up out of bed while he tried to get back on his feet.

"Next time you want to wake someone up, it would suit you better to just nudge them."

While he was still getting off the floor, I walked out and started walking to the bath with the other women. When we were all done, Dracian came to us and took five of the whores, including me, downstairs to show a client. Dracian was still mad at me, I could tell, but it was fine. It made me laugh a little even.

"These are some of our finest sir." She started at the end of the line with Betricia. "This one's been with us for a while. She's a favorite of a lot of our customers." The man, a new senator I believe he was, looked at Betricia for a minute.

"Is it because she's sincerely a good lover, or just because she's blond with blue eyes?" Lady Zitia smiled.

"I like to think it's a little of both, milord." Lady Zitia moved down the line to Foe. "This one is a wonderful lover, though I must warn you, she's a bit on the pricier side." The senator raised an eyebrow at Lady Zitia.

"And how much would that be?" Lady Zitia made a guilty/how-dare-he-ask sort of look and walked closer to him.

"2500." The senator's eyes widened.

"That's a bit much, wouldn't you say?"

"It is. But I assure you, there is a reason for the high price."

"With a price like that, the girl better fuck me like Venus with her ass on fire." Lady Zitia giggled.

"She can, I assure you. But she's a favorite of the Prefect Tibirian and he pays extra for her and I gave him my word that I would make her more expensive to discourage other men from paying for her services."

"And you agreed to that?" Lady Zitia smiled politely at the senator and shrugged.

"He plans to buy her eventually. He's waiting for his wife to pass away before he does, but he is planning to buy her."

"Why is he bothering waiting for his wife to pass away? It's not like that'll happen any time soon. And it's not like he loves his wife."

"I'm only informing you of what I know, milord." Lady Zitia walked back to the line. "I assume that she isn't to your liking?" The senator looked at Foe a little longer, then shook his head.

"She's more expensive than she's worth I think."

"I understand sir." She moved on from Foe and came to me. "Now this one is relatively new. She's feisty, but she's calmed since we first got her. And all who've had her say she's quiet pleasing."

"Isn't she the one that nearly killed one of your customers?" Lady Zitia tried to not look embarrassed or ashamed as the senator laughed a little under his breath.

"With all due respect, milord, that was two years later. She's not been any trouble to anyone since that incident. And she's very well priced. A bargain, even."

"And how much is she?"

"1000." The senator smiled and nodded approvingly.

"That's more like it. How much are the others, about the same?" Lady Zitia nodded.

"Ranging from 1000 to 2000. It depends on their credibility and how long I've had them." The senator nodded approvingly and looked at the line again. He looked at each of us thoughtfully. I didn't get sick through this process anymore. I didn't have the will to care.

"I'll take her, then." He pointed, but it wasn't at me. It was the girl next to me. Lady Zitia smiled and nodded.

"Wonderful choice, milord." She looked at the girl. "You go get ready. The rest of you go upstairs until I need you."

We all bowed our head respectfully and left to go upstairs to do something else. Dracian took the girl that was to service the man to a room to the far right upstairs. He was gone for a few minutes before he came out again and called for me to follow him to another, free room. When we were in the room together, he closed the door so we were alone and came to me with his same angry face.

"You know, Chelsea, any other person would whip you for your little stunt this morning."

"I was simply getting you off me so I could breathe. Your lack of balance is no fault of mine."

"Don't push your luck with me, Chelsea. There's only so much of your insolence I'm willing to tolerate."

"Don't tolerate it then. Do your worst to me, you know I don't care."

"There's nothing to be gained from it if you don't care, you should know that. Then again, that doesn't mean you like it." We stared at each other for a few minutes before he sighed and walked to the door. "I'll talk to Lady Zitia about your price. Expect to leave the brothel within the next few days."

He didn't give me a chance to respond. He just walked out with a scowl on his face and slammed the door behind him as he walked out. I didn't bother going after him or trying to reason with him. Instead, I went to where the other girls were and joined them in their little activities for the day.

I didn't think about what Dracian said for the next few days. He'd threatened to do things and he rarely ever went through with it. At least, I didn't think anything of it until there was suddenly a new girl at the brothel. She was much younger than me and couldn't speak a word of Latin. Since she couldn't tell us her name, Lady Zitia just named her Mina. The day after Mina showed up, I was woken up in the morning from feeling something nudge my side. But it wasn't very gentle. It startled me awake and I screeched from the shock.

"There. I nudged you this time. Just so you know, you're coming home with me after work today, so have anything you want to keep packed up before the end of the day."

Then Dracian walked out and went about his work day like usual. I didn't have anything that was really mine for me to take, so I just stayed in my room while some of the women from the brothel came in at different points of the day to say goodbye to me and to always remember them and try to get Dracian to agree to let me visit every now and then.

"Somehow, I knew Dracian would buy you. He never used to stay at work late before you."

"I doubt that means anything. He's just a child that doesn't want to share his toy. Trust me, the moment he has me all to himself, he'll be bored with me and I'll be no more than a house slave." Foe shook her head.

"I don't think so. He's nicer to you than he is to the rest of us. And he's not very wealthy, so the fact that he's willing to spend that much money to have you, that means something."

"It only means he's willing to go to great lengths to get what he wants. It's no different than any other petty child. He's not like Prefect Tibirian is with you. The Prefect respects you and he goes so far as to promise to free you after he buys you." Foe knew I caught her and she held her head down.

"That's a once in a lifetime relationship."

"I think he's leading you on. I don't understand why he's so concerned with his wife." Foe shrugged.

"It's a political thing. And though he doesn't love her, he still thinks well of her. She's a good mother, a good wife, he simply doesn't love her and that's not her fault. He doesn't want to hurt her for something that isn't her fault. So he keeps us quiet and plans to until she passes away."

"And when do you suppose that will be. How old is the Prefect?"

"He's forty two. His wife is forty six. I doubt she'll live much longer. It isn't often a women lives past fifty." I sighed.

"So you're going to wait around for four years as a whore for his wife to die of old age with not but the Prefect's word that he'll buy and free you after the passing?"

"I never said it was logical, Chelsea. But sometimes, hope is all you have, especially in a life like this. I'd rather have hope that my life will change eventually than live my life miserable."

"It must be nice." She nodded and hugged me.

"It is, Chelsea. It really is. It's easy to be miserable and cynical. It takes a real human being to trust people."

"You're asking me to trust Dracian?" She shook her head.

"I'm not asking you to trust Dracian. I'm asking you to trust that everything will work out in the end. I can't tell you how, but believe that it will." I didn't answer her. It seemed like such a farfetched concept. She kept hugging me and I hugged her back. She held my head close and rested it on mine.

"I wish I could feel the same way you do."

Foe didn't say anything more. We just sat together hugging without saying a word. We were forced to let go of each other when Dracian came in and told Foe to come downstairs so she could be looked at. I was told to stay upstairs. I was left alone in the room for several more hours with nothing to do but play with string and make shapes. When it was the end of Dracian's work day, he came into the room with a grin on his face.

"You ready to go, Chelsea?" I sighed and stood up.

"As ready as I'll ever be." His smile widened and he walked over to me and grabbed a hold of my hand.

"Good. Let's get going, then. My home is a few blocks from here, so stay close to me."

He pulled me with him out of the room and down the stairs, said thank you and goodbye to Lady Zitia, and out of the brothel and took a left. I didn't look at anyone on the way to his home. I only looked at landmarks trying to remember the area. I'd only been out of the brothel to go to the lady that gave us the abortion elixirs, but never anywhere else. There was a meat market close to his house and a large open area that surrounded the coliseum.

It took ten minutes worth of walking to get to his home. It was in a little apartment complex that still had people outside in the middle of the housing complex where there was a large table shared by all the tenants and there were barrels and vases surrounding the area. He took me up the stairs to the second floor and walked us into a small, semi-one-room house. The kitchen, like most Roman homes, was at the front. To the left was a bed and in the far back was another room that he evidently used as a closet space.

"This is where I live. It's not as nice as the brothel, but make yourself at home." Dracian walked further into the house to the back room and got something. It was a dress and he tossed it to me. "Put this on. It's more appropriate. The last thing I want is my neighbor complaining about a slave in sheer clothing walking around."

After I had the dress in my hands, Dracian walked into the kitchen area and started pointing things out, like water, wine, where the food was stored, and so on. He told me where he kept his rags that I needed to use for cleaning and told me to start changing, so I changed while he kept showing me around.

"And just so you know, I always have wine with dinner. So let me know when we're running low and I'll leave you money so you can get more. Same if we're running low on food."

"What should I do with these?" I held up the sheer garment I'd changed out of. He shrugged.

"Just throw it in the back. We can always save it for another day." Then he winked at me. "I haven't eaten yet and I know you haven't either. You know where everything is, so have at it." I was silent a moment and he broke the silence after a few seconds. "You do know how to cook, right?"

"Of course I know how to cook. I grew up on a farm." He chuckled.

"Good, because I don't. I was scared I'd have to make you friends with that old lady next door so she could teach you how to cook." I shook my head.

"That won't be needed. Just tell me what you want for dinner and I'll make it." He grinned and walked a little closer to me.

"I bought a chicken yesterday. Do something with that." I was about to nod, but he just kissed me and walked over to his room and picked up something. "I'm going to go buy more wine. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Once he had a small pouch in his hands, he walked out of the house and I heard him walk down the stairs. When he was gone, I located the chicken he told me about and butchered it for my use. I hadn't butchered a chicken in two years, but I remembered how to do it once I had all the feathers plucked and in a cloth bag that would be burned later. When the bird was butchered, I put some pieces in a pan over the fire and some back in the salt for storage. He didn't have many spices to use for seasoning, but all I really needed was salt and pepper.

I had the chicken done within two hours. He was back as soon as I finished butchering the chicken. When he came home, he put the wine on a counter, gently spanked me, then walked to the table and started to work on something for Lady Zitia.

"What are you doing?" The silence was bugging me to my amazement and Dracian looked at me and smiled.

"Lady Zitia wanted me to fill out a list of blacklist notes. There're a few politicians that are losing money in some mock investment that started a few months ago, so they don't have the proper status for Lady Zitia's services anymore. We make a list every month or so updating the blacklist."

"So you turn them away because they're not the proper status?" Dracian nodded.

"We're one of the finest brothels in Rome. Lady Zitia came from a very wealthy family and has very high prestige, and hence is able to charge high prices. And if a customer isn't good enough for her brothel, she has the authority and high reputation to turn them away if she wishes."

"You're not from a wealthy family and yet she lets you sleep with the whores."

"I'm an exception. I work for her and urn my right to have a little fun for my hard work. And none of the customers know I sleep with them. Besides, you're the only one I've slept with in a while."

"Is that supposed to make me feel special?" He chuckled.

"It does make you special. I've slept around that brothel since the day I started there. That was seven years ago I'll have you know. First, you were a challenge. Then you were my favorite. Now, you're the only one that's any good anymore." I sighed.

"Hurray for me." Coincidentally, the chicken finished cooking shortly after that. "Here's your chicken."

I handed him a breast and leg, giving myself the same amount and he tasted it before digging in. I waited a moment before I started eating and once I started, I figured I'd keep a conversation going.

"Is it to your liking?"

"A little more salt next time. But other than that, it's pretty good." He took a sip f his wine and kept eating. "Help yourself to some wine if you like." I smiled a little and shook my head.

"I'm alright." He finished his dinner long before me. When he was done, he put the dishes on the counter close the bucket he used for cleaning and went back to what he'd been doing.

By the time I was full, I'd finished only half the breast. I put it in the salt bin with all the other stored foods so I or Dracian could have it tomorrow. Then I cleaned all the dishes and put them back where they were supposed to go.

"Chelsea." I looked at Dracian and waited for him to talk. "Come here." He was standing next to a counter putting down the clay plates he'd been filling out and turned to face me. Cautiously, I started walking over to him like he ordered. He noticed my reluctance and sighed. "Stop lollygagging and come here, Chelsea."

Still a little cautious of him, I sped up and got to him in half the time it would've taken at my previous pace. When I was close enough, he took me in a hug and kissed me. It was like any other kiss, so I went along with it like I always did. He made it a deep kiss within minutes and his hands moved freely. I hated letting my arms hang, so I brought them up so they were between us and the back of my hands resting against his chest.

He took a hold of my wrists and tossed them up so my arms were wrapped around his shoulders. Then he pushed me back until I fell back onto his bed. He slipped of my dress and removed his clothes before falling onto me and having his fun. When he was done, we laid there, me staring at the ceiling, silent for several minutes while he caught his breath.

"So where do I sleep?" I turned to look at me with a weird look.

"Here. Where else would you sleep?" I shrugged.

"On the floor or in the back room?" He chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"We'll have sex often enough, so what's the point of making you sleep somewhere else? Besides, you'd hurt my feelings if you slept somewhere else." He laughed a little harder at his sarcasm and pulled me close to him.

"I never guessed you would be so considerate."

"I paid a lot of money for you, so I might as well take care of you and make sure you last. And be happy that I don't plan to lash you or hit you. The problem with that is if one goes about that method, he has to keep at it. But then the woman being whipped doesn't look so pretty." I rolled my eyes and my voice was thick with sarcasm.

"How kind of you." He grinned and reached over to kiss me.

"The rules still apply. You're a slave, so sarcasm is frowned upon. I'll take it, but don't use it with anyone else. Understood?" I sighed.

"Yes, Dracian." He smiled wider.

"Good. Save that feisty sarcasm for me."

After that, he started feeling my body and kissing the back of my neck again, then he was humping me again within minutes. After this, he fell asleep at last and I scooted away from him to the far edge of the bed and tried to fall asleep. I woke up to the same thing we'd done last night, though it was the last few moments of it. When Dracian had his fill, he got out of bed and got dressed.

"I had the chicken from last night for breakfast, so that's gone. I have a list of things I need you do on the counter. You can read, right." I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, damn it, I can read." He smiled at the thickness of sleep in my voice.

"Good, then you'll have no problem getting everything done. I'll see you later tonight when I get back."

As he spoke, he walked to the door and he walked out as soon as he was done talking. When he was gone, I groaned and got out of bed, changed into my clothes, then walked to the kitchen where the clay piece was with all the things I needed to do for the day. One of those things was cleaning the house. I sighed and went right to that.

Dracian's house was a complete mess. There were things lying around, stuff on the floor that shouldn't be on the floor, dirty clothes, dirty dishes. It was every woman's worse nightmare. No wonder he needed a slave. The house would never get clean otherwise. I started with the kitchen area by cleaning off the counters. There was blood and dried blood from several animal butchering on the counter and it was next to impossible to get out. After an hour and a half of scrubbing the counters, I managed to get out enough of the blood that all that was left was faint red.

When I couldn't scrub anymore, I went to the back room and organized all the clothes and put them all in a chest that was in the room. With all the clothes put away, that left a lot more room for other things. I had no idea what he would put in the back room, but at least the space was now available. Then I cleaned his room and cleaned the sheets. They stank horribly. I shuddered to think how long it'd been since the last time they were cleaned if ever at all.

I walked to the neighbor's house, the little old lady he was telling me about, and knocked on her door hoping she would answer. I waited about three minutes and was about to leave to go back when she opened her door.

"Can I help you?" I smiled kindly and bowed my head respectfully.

"Yes. I was hoping you had some soap I could use to clean sheets. I looked all over the house and my master doesn't seem to have some."

"You're his slave?" I nodded.

"Yes, ma'am." She sighed and went back into her house. She took a moment to look around, then came back with a large bar and handed it to me.

"You give your master a message. You tell him that I said to get his own damn soap. I expect that back in good condition when you're done. I have my own cleaning to do." Then she slammed the door in my face and I took a step back in surprise.

I didn't think about what'd just happened. I had a lot of cleaning to do, I knew. If the smell of his sheets was any indication, it would take a long soaking time to get the smell out. When I got back, I got a bucket and went to the middle of the complex where a fountain was and got some water to fill a bucket. Once it was filled, I took a spot where there were hangers and started lathering the soap in the water.

I soaked the sheets in water for about an hour and left the sheets to clean the rest of the room. When I was done, I went back down and started scrubbing the sheets in the water to get the last of the smell out. After scrubbing roughly, I took a quick sniff and sighed in relief. The smell was gone. I rang out the sheets and hung them so they would dry. It was still early in the day, so I was hoping that the sheets would be finished drying by night.

While the sheets dried, I went back to the house and started prepping a fish that he had. It smelled fine, so I hoped that it wasn't bad. I started with the hardest thing to do and scrapped the scales off the fish until there was nothing left. I wanted to make sure it kept until Dracian came home, so I kept it as the full fish.

When I was finished prepping the fish, I went back downstairs and got the sheets from their hanger. They weren't completely dry yet but I hung them over a chair so they could dry the rest of the way and got back to the fish. It was almost sundown, so Dracian would be home soon. He probably wanted his dinner ready when he got home.

While I was working, it felt great that I didn't have to worry about clients. I didn't have to deal with Lady Zitia, I didn't have to be raped four to five times a day, I could be to myself and not worry about being yelled at, it was really nice. I would never admit that to Dracian, though. If I thanked him, he would never let me hear the end of it. As grateful as I was, I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"You're fixing the fish." I turned and saw Dracian standing in the doorway. I nodded.

"Yeah. It didn't look bad, so I thought it would make a good dinner." He grinned.

"Wise choice. I bought that fish yesterday, so it would've gone bad if I waited any longer to use it. Is it almost done?" I nodded.

"Yeah. It'll be done in a few minutes."

"Good, I'm starving. I haven't eaten since this morning." I heard him walking closer, but I figured he was about to sit down, so I ignored him. "How was your first day as a house slave?" Then I felt him wrap his arms around me. It made me uncomfortable.

"Decent."

"Better than the whore house?"

"It'll do I suppose." He chuckled and his hands rested on my hips.

"You know, a normal person would be grateful for the transition." I shrugged.

"A slave is a slave. There's no way to make that truth glamorous." He sighed.

"Glamorous wasn't the change I was looking for. Maybe more tolerable is the word." I didn't respond. I kept working on cooking the fish. He smiled and kissed my neck before walking to the table. When the fish was done, I put it on a platter and put it on the table,

"Here you go." He grinned.

"Well done, my pet. I could get used to having you around. Things actually get done." I nodded and sat down at the table. "I noticed you cleaned my sheets." I nodded.

"Yeah, I did. They smelled revolting so I cleaned them." He chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"I don't think they were that bad. But thanks anyway for the effort. They smell like lavender now."

"It's better than what it was." He chuckled and nodded while he cut off a portion of the fish. He grinned.

"Cooked all the way through. You really do know what you're doing."

"I told you I did."

"I guess that's what comes from having a country girl for a slave." He kept that smile on his face as he started eating.

I took a portion of the fish, but I didn't eat much of it. I wasn't feeling well and I wasn't in the mood to eat. He noticed, but didn't say anything about it. When he was done with his fish, he took my piece and ate it himself, knowing I wasn't going to finish it. When he was done, he took the dishes to the cleaning water and threw the fish in a bag that would be burned at the end of the week, then he walked behind me and rested his hands on my shoulders.

"That was a good dinner. I'll see about getting a lamb as soon as possible. I'm in the mood for a rack of lamb." Then he kissed my neck.

"Whatever you say."

"You know how to cook lamb I assume." I nodded.

"Yes, I know how to cook lamb."

"Good." Then, before another word was said, he pulled me out of the chair and took me in his arms. I was stunned and he just smiled as he walked us to his bed. "There's nothing better than a slave that knows her way around a kitchen."

Then he kissed me, which I expected, and he went about his usual routine that he had. In truth, even if I wasn't in the brothel anymore, I was still a whore. I was simply a whore that served more good than just sex. When Dracian wasn't around, it wasn't bad. I didn't mind being a house slave when he wasn't around. The moment he was home, it was like nothing had changed and I was still at the brothel. At least at the brothel, I had Foe and Betricia and all the others to talk to. Here, until Dracian came back, I was all alone.

While he was having his way with me, I started thinking about my family. I'd avoided thinking about them for a long time. I couldn't live with the shame that they probably thought I'd run away to escape an unsure marriage. But now, they were all I could think about. What I wouldn't give to have my bed with my two sisters and be able to yell at them every morning for sleeping on top of me and snoring in my ear. What I wouldn't give to have mother yell at me for eating the olives or to see my father smile again.

"What's the matter with you?" I was taken out of my trance and looked at Dracian.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're crying. Is there something you want to tell me?" I was stunned a moment, then I brought up my finger close to my eye and I felt the tear that he spoke of. I looked at the tear a moment, then looked at him. I didn't want to talk to him about this. He wouldn't care. So I avoided the situation and went on all fours.

"You know you don't care, master. Just do what you want and get it over with." To my surprise, Dracian grabbed a hold of my hair and pulled me up until his face and mine were right next to each other.

"Don't you backtalk me Chelsea. I'll tolerate your sarcasm, I'll even tolerate you cynicism. But when I ask you a fucking question, you answer me. Now what the fuck is your problem?"

"It's not important." He pulled on my hair again.

"No it's not, but I'm just nice enough to ask my female slave about her fucking feelings. So answer the god damn question." I held back a wine from the pain in my scalp and answered him.

"I started thinking about my family and I missed them."

"You were thinking about your family of all things while you were being pounded? How the hell do you do something like that?" I didn't say anything. I had an answer for him, but it would make him mad at it wouldn't end well. "Answer me, Chelsea." His voice was like ice and it made a chill go down my spine. So I answered him.

"I'm able to think of my family because I'm wishing for something I'd rather have then be forced to have sex with you."

"See, was that so hard?" Then he let go of my hair and went back to what he'd been doing as if our conversation never happened. When he was done, he was still a moment before he grabbed my hair again and pulled me back up. "How you feel is of little concern to me. Don't mistake my hospitality for anything other than pity and pure lust. You remember your place as a whore and don't question me, then my hospitality won't run thin."

Then he let go of me, pushed me down onto the bed, and fell onto his back on the other side of the bed and went to sleep. When he was out, my thoughts went right back to my family and how much I wished I could tell them what really happened to me. Maybe even beg father to buy me back and free me so things could go back to the way they were. It made me cry because I knew that would never happen.

The next morning, Dracian was gone and there was the clay list the things on the kitchen table that I needed to get done today. One of those things included taking the garbage outside and putting it with the rest of the garbage so it could be collected and taken out of the city to be burned.

While I was going about that chore, I started feeling nauseous, but I ignored it. It only lasted for a moment. But as I worked on the house and was cleaning throughout the day, they nausea kept coming back. I did my best not to vomit. The last thing I needed was to get everything dirty and have to clean it all up again. When it was late enough I started dinner, but the smell was making me sick again. I stopped because I couldn't take it anymore.

"Where's dinner?" Dracian asked when he walked in. I was sitting at the table willing myself to feel better.

"The smell was making me sick so I stopped."

"Then don't breath in the smell. Just because you're sick doesn't mean I need to go hungry."

"You've cooked without me for a good while. You're capable of cooking for yourself just this once."

"Please tell me we don't have to have this little slave/master discussion again." I groaned and got up and went back to cooking. It was poultry, so it could handle a little more abuse. In truth, I hoped the bird would be really dry.

I forced back getting sick and handed him the plate of food. I didn't bother eating anything. I was fighting keeping food down as it was. I took a seat at the table and waited for him to tell me something. When nothing came, I got back up.

"If there's nothing else you want me to do for the day, I think I'll go to bed now."

"How sick are you."

"I've been nauseous all day and really dizzy."

"Can you hold it?"

"So far, I've succeeded."

"Then you should be fine for tonight. Just go to bed and wait for me."

"I'm telling you I'm a hair away from vomiting and you still want to have sex?"

"If that were the case, you would've done it already. It's probably just a cold."

"I've had colds and this isn't a cold. I already figured out what's wrong." He stopped eating a moment, then his groaned and shook his head.

"You're pregnant aren't you?"

"Every time, this is what happens." He groaned again.

"I guess you have to go to Tiberia tomorrow. I'll send you with some money."

"So you still plan to do this?"

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know. Forget I said anything."

"You're not keeping this baby. End of story. I don't want any fucking kids and I certainly don't want any fucking kids with a house whore."

"I never said anything about keeping it. You've made your point perfectly clear many times before. I'll just kill the baby like I've killed all of them." My voice was void of emotion when I said that, and that scared me.

We didn't talk again after that and Dracian didn't lay a hand on me. It was the first time in two years that I'd had one day without any sex at all. It was wonderful and refreshing and I savored the feeling for as long as I could. The next morning, Dracian was gone again and there was money on the counter that he said he would leave for me to go to Tiberia.

I didn't go for the money right away. I wanted to prolong what I didn't want to do. In the two short years that I'd been at the brothel, I'd gotten pregnant a grand total of six times in two years. That was more than any of the other girls. And Dracian, I knew, was the father for all if not most of them. And every time I had to get rid of my child, I felt like a monster afterwards. I didn't want to go through that again.

By midday, I decided I wasn't going to go through with it. I couldn't go through with it. Not again. Instead, I took the money from the counter and left. I didn't have any possessions to carry with me so I just left. The money he left me wasn't much, but it was enough to get some food when I was hungry and maybe bribe a drover into taking me back home.

No one stopped me as I walked out of the complex and no one stopped me or looked at me when I reached the streets. I walked up to a female vender and asked her how to get to the gates. She smiled and simply assumed I was a tourist, which I technically was, and told me where I needed to go. I ran down the streets eagerly, never stopping. I was too happy to be tired. I had to contain my excitement, but the moment I exited Rome, I planned on dancing. I would probably need to sneak out of the city, but I didn't care. I'd figure something out.

As I was running, I was so excited that I didn't see three older men in fancy garb walking past me. I completely ignored them until one of them grabbed a hold of my arm and dragged me in between two buildings blocking my way from either exit. The oldest of the three looked familiar. I didn't remember who he was until he reminded me.

"You're the little whore that nearly killed me." I got nervous and prepared to defend myself, but they probably had weapons, so I was out of luck. The slightly younger man standing next to the senator laughed a little.

"This is her? I half expected her to be huge. How did this girl beat you?"

"That's not important. What's important is that she's a slave. She shouldn't be out and about. Lady Zitia's probably looking for her. We should do her a favor and bring her back." The man standing behind me spoke next.

"I say we have a little fun with her first. I say we should get a freebie since we're the ones that found her and are bringing her back." All three of them laughed and I unconsciously moved my hand over my belly were my baby was. The senator laughed.

"She's pregnant I think." The man standing next to him laughed.

"So that's why she's trying to escape. She wants to save her little bastard." The senator simply smirked at his friend. Then he glanced at the man behind me, who then grabbed a hold of me holding onto my arms so I couldn't punch.

Then I felt a pain like no other when the senator punched my stomach as hard as he could. Shortly after the punch, I started feeling blood run down my legs and the pain became even worse. The other man groaned.

"Couldn't you wait to do that until after we raped her? Now she's covered in blood."

"We'll just throw water on her before we do anything. Just be patient." The tears in my eyes wouldn't stay back any longer. The pain was too much, both physical and emotional.

They laughed at me while I cried. I'd just lost my child, I was about to be raped, and I was going to be sent back to the brothel to live my life as a whore. In that moment, I simply gave up all hope and prayed for death, begged for it even. The other man left for a moment and I was thrown against the way and water thrown on me.

"There, the blood's gone. Now let's just have at her. Who gets to have her first?"

They argued amongst themselves over who would get to have a shot at me first while I stayed against the wall wishing it was all over. But then they suddenly stopped talking. The man that'd been behind me moved back to my left and I looked in the direction he'd been in before. Where he'd stood was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. She was Greek, that much I could tell. She had long, gorgeous wavy hair and a soft, but stern face. And when she spoke, I could swear no singing voice was more beautiful.

"Leave her be, inbred swine." I heard the senator's voice respond with a forced anger that was drying to cover awe.

"How dare you order us around like our master? Who are you to tell me what to do?" The woman smiled, and it was the most beautiful smile I'd ever seen.

"I'm a predator that hasn't fed in a few days." I was confused a moment, then became even more so when she was suddenly gone. I heard cracking noises and looked to my left where the sounds came from. I was about to scream at the sight of the three dead men at her feet, but something cold and hard covered my mouth. "Marcus, don't hurt her. She's just scared."

"Didyme, I don't think letting her live is a good idea. You know how anal Aro is about secrecy." Didyme, the woman, walked over to me and touched my hand. She closed her eyes for a few minutes, then took her hand away and looked sad.

"She's had a rough time in Rome. I don't have the heart to end her life. And I won't allow you to either, my love."

"Didyme, I know you don't want to, but that's not up to us." Didyme looked like she was about to speak, but then she looked behind Marcus and Marcus looked with her, pulling me in that same direction. There were five more vampires, three women, two men. The man at the front with black hair smiled and looked at Didyme.

"Come here please, Didyme. Show me what she showed you." Seemingly before he finished talking, Didyme was before the dark haired man and gave him her hand. He concentrated for a minute, then he sighed and looked sad. "Truly a great misfortune." The woman standing next to him spoke.

"I agree with Didyme, my love. Let's change her and make her part of our coven. She might have a strong gift you could use. You never know." Didyme shook her head.

"No, Sulpicia, she wants to go home. I say we let her do that." The man standing next to Sulpicia shook his head.

"Now Didyme, she knows too much, we can't let her go." The light haired man spoke next.

"I agree with Aro. Alive, she's a liability. Dead, she's not an issue." The woman standing next to the light haired man spoke next and the woman with mahogany hair walked over to me.

"Caius, let's change her. The more company, the merrier. And like Sulpicia said, she could have a useful gift." The tall dark man, Aro, looked thoughtful a moment, then grinned at the woman with mahogany hair.

"Heidi, if you would be so kind." Heidi nodded her head, then took me from Marcus and I felt something sharp in my neck before I could even comprehend what was going on. I screamed from the pain and she was gone from me after I screamed. Caius looked at Aro with concern.

"We better get her out of here. If she starts screaming, we'll have all of Rome staring at us." Aro nodded his head.

"Indeed we do, Caius. Heidi, carry her with you and take her out of the city. Keep her in the woods until she's done changing." Heidi nodded.

"Yes, Aro. I'll bring her back when she's done." Aro smiled and nodded his head. Then I was in Heidi's arms and we were flying over the city. At least, it felt like we were flying.

As we went along, I felt a burn in my neck that was really uncomfortable. Once we were out of the city, the burn became so unbearable that I was screaming at the top of my lungs. It was like I was on fire. Heidi covered my forehead with her hand, but her cold skin did nothing to cool me down. She didn't say a word to me as the burning continued. I tried screaming questions at her, like what was happening and why are you doing this. But she never answered me. She only kept her hand on my forehead and waited.

I lost track of time a long time ago. All I could concentrate on was the awful burning. I was blazing on fire and yet I wasn't dying and I couldn't understand why that was. Eventually, I stopped screaming altogether. I couldn't stand doing it anymore and it wasn't making the pain stopped. I watched the sun rise and set before my eyes and all I cared about was the throbbing pain that was in during the whole experience. Eventually, the pain was receding, but going straight into my heart that was beating furiously. I was on fire in my heart and I was screaming again. I couldn't believe the pain had gotten worse.

But after a few minutes of the pain, it was suddenly gone and I breathed out. I breathed in, realizing the action wasn't needed but the taste and smell of the things around me was enough to make me want to do it again. I opened my eyes again and saw the world like I'd never seen it before and I could clearly hear and see things for miles. I was so stunned and I forced myself up, surprised how fast and effortless the action was.

"How do you feel?" I looked at the woman, Heidi, who looked happy.

"Fine I suppose. Who are you? What did you do to me?" She breathed out and took a moment to stand us both up before speaking.

"My name is Heidi. I'm a member of Aro's coven, The Volturi. We're a relatively large coven compared to most and we took over as the unofficial rulers of the vampire world." My eyes widened.

"I beg your pardon?" She smiled shyly.

"Aro didn't like the way Vladimir and his coven handled their land or how they conducted themselves. So he, his mate Sulpicia, Caius, and his mate Athenadora, took them down and became the new rulers. I joined their coven over nine hundred years ago." My eyes widened.

"You've lived that long?" Heidi nodded.

"That's what vampires do. And that's what you are now, same as the rest of us. Aro will ask, so tell me, is there any sensation you're getting from me or anything else that's odd. For example, I make people see what they want to see." I was stunned by her question, but didn't bother asking for elaboration.

So I thought about what was odd. All my new senses alone were odd, but I had the feeling that was nothing out of the ordinary for a vampire. Thinking that was so odd and yet I was still able to concentrate, which amazed me more. I looked at Heidi, but saw nothing. Then I looked in the distance and saw a man and a woman together. That was what was odd. I could feel something between them, physically. Like I could feel a six sense sensation. The bond felt strong, so I concentrated and weakened it. It took a lot of power, but I weakened it. The couple that had once been lovers began to argue. I undid that and they were back to normal apologizing to each other.

"I felt something between those two." Heidi looked where I looked, then back at me.

"What do you mean?"

"It was like a tight bond. I made it weaker for a moment and they started arguing, but I took it back and they're normal again." Heidi smiled and nodded her head.

"Looks like you have a gift after all. What about that same man and me or the woman and me? Do you sense anything?" I looked at all of them and shook my head.

"Nothing." Heidi thought a moment, then she looked over her shoulder and waved hello and said hello to the couple. They waved and said hello back, then there was suddenly a bond that I felt.

"How about now?"

"There's something, but it's really weak." Then, as an experiment, I took the bond between Heidi and the man and made it stronger. Before I knew it, the man was looking at Heidi with love and affection in his eyes. I undid it and his attention went right back to his lover. "Relationships."

"Come again?"

"I think I control relationships. At least it feels like I do. I feel a bond between these people and I just think about making it stronger or weaker and it happens." Heidi grinned again.

"That's a fun gift. I'm sure Aro will enjoy it. Let's get back to the city. I have to warn you, Caius and Aro are easy to make impatient."

Heidi smiled a little wider in humor and I simply smiled in return. She led me with her back to the city where my new coven, or at least it seemed like they were, stood at the top of a building stalking. Heidi told Aro about what I could do and he seemed pleased with it, hearing the 'I told you so' from Sulpicia. Didyme walked over and comforted me and tried to explain everything to me so I wouldn't be as nervous. Once I understood what I was, I felt a little better.

"A vampire?" Didyme nodded.

"That's right. You know what goes with being a vampire for the most part, right?"

"I have to drink blood and can't go into the sun?" Heidi smiled and shook her head.

"You're half right. The sun isn't much of n issue except it makes our skin shine. We still can't show ourselves in the sunlight for that reason, but that's about it. Our skin is cold and stone to anyone human and we have a sweet smell as I'm sure you've noticed." I nodded.

"Yeah, I did notice that." Aro grinned and invited me over to him.

"Being a newborn, I'm sure your throat is just burning." It was and it hurt more now that it was at the front of my mind. "We'll take you hunting tonight."

"Actually, Aro, there was something I wanted, need to do really." Aro looked interested.

"And what was that, Chelsea?" I was hesitant a moment to tell him, but he smiled and waited patiently. I finally sighed, and spoke. I wouldn't have to explain anything to him since he'd already read Didyme's mind.

"Lady Zitia and Dracian. They've made my life horrible. And that soldier that forced me from my home in the first place. I want them to pay for what they've done to me. I want every man that ever rapped me in that brothel to regret ever crossing my path." Aro looked surprised and Didyme came back to me to try and calm me from the hissing that I'd started.

"My, Chelsea, that's a hefty request. That's a lot of murders in one night." Caius spoke to my defense.

"People are murdered in Rome every day. It's a way of life. If someone sees a dead body in the street, they won't care."

"For Lady Zitia and Dracian, perhaps. But she wants the men that she serviced dead as well. That means she's asking for the death of very wealthy men and that's not something I can allow. I happen to know some of those men and I need them around for money purposes."

"Gods, Aro, we're vampires. What in the hell do we need money for?"

"You'll thank me for it one day, Caius. You mark my words, you'll thank me one day." Caius rolled his eyes, then Aro looked back at me. "I can't allow the death of those wealthy men. For starters, I take money from them. Secondly, they're well known and high in prestige. If that many were to die, it would be highly suspicious and there would be an investigation. And Chelsea, I can't afford for this to somehow lead to me and my coven. Rome is where we stay and we need to stay here. You may, however, kill Dracian and Lady Zitia if you please. Lady Zitia's well known, but I doubt very seriously that anyone will miss a pimp." I smiled.

"Thank you, Aro." He held up his finger.

"But, I don't want anyone to see this happen. No one can see you, hear you, you can't make a huge scene, and make it quick. I understand what's going on, but I can't risk anything getting out of hand. Are we clear?" I nodded.

"Yes Aro." He smiled again.

"Be back before the end of the night. And from what Didyme tells me, the soldier that brought you here lives down the street close to the market you were sold at. She'll show you the way."

"Thank you, Aro." He smiled kindly once more and Didyme came with me and showed me where the soldier's house was. As I feared, he had a wife and son. I almost felt back until Didyme told me he went to brothels often and he and his wife had a violent relationship.

"I'll get the mother and son out of the house for you. You worry about the soldier."

"Thank you, Didyme." She smiled.

"Think nothing of it. I can't even comprehend what this all must have been like for you. I only saw the events occur. Aro's the one that would hear what's going through your head when it happens."

That said, Didyme leaped to their home and she looked thoughtful a moment. Then she said what I assumed were the woman and boy's names in an old and screechy voice. The woman took a hold of her son and was asking for her mother with confusion in her voice. Didyme kept saying the two names in that same voice and led them away from the house. That's when I took the opportunity to sneak in.

The soldier looked surprised to see me, even horrified. It was probably my red eyes that scared him. Good. I wanted him to be scared. I wanted him to feel pain and fear like I had when he took me away. He begged for his life, but I didn't grant it. As Aro requested, though to my dismay, I kept the kill brief. I strangled him for a moment, let him go, hit him a few times, then snapped his neck and drank in his blood. It was so refreshing that I almost forgot why I was there in the first place.

I went back to the rooftop and waited for Didyme to get back. When she came back, the mother and child followed after, the mother looking rather annoyed. Then when she walked into her house, she let out a blood curdling scream, and that's when Didyme and I took our leave. We went to the brothel next. I wanted to save Dracian for last. I snuck into the brothel and forced Lady Zitia into another room and killed her quickly with her whip. I made sure no one saw us and no one heard us. I was delighted to find that the spurs on the whip didn't hurt me, so I could dig them into her neck to make it hurt her more. I drank her blood quickly when it was over.

I told Didyme to go back to the coven before leaving the brothel. I wanted to handle Dracian by myself. And I wanted this kill to last a lot longer. I would keep it silent, but I couldn't do it with Didyme breathing down my neck, so to speak. When I arrived, the lights were on and no one was outside their homes. I looked around to make sure no one was looking and went through the back to be positive. When I came in, he looked right at me and had a look of fury in his eyes. He sped to me with his voice loud.

"Where the fuck have you been?!" I didn't even flinch at his voice. I had no reason to be scared. He couldn't hurt me anymore. I smiled in response and he looked stunned when he was close enough. "What the hell did you do?"

"I've done nothing." I was in front of him in the blink of an eye and had a tight hold of his through before he could even think. "You're the one that's done wrong, Dracian. You should be ashamed."

"For what, ownership of property? What happened to you? Your hands are ice cold and stone."

"It's the vampire traits. I was nearly killed three days ago and a coven of vampires saved me and changed me into this. I came back because I wanted to return the favor for all the pain you've caused me."

"I've been kind to you." I raised my voice a little in response.

"Kinder than most, but not enough. You were still a beast to me. You've forced me to sleep with you, forced me to kill my children, forced me to do your bidding for two years and I've had enough. I'm strong enough to have my revenge and I intend to make your death as slow and painful as possible." He sneered at me.

"You don't have the guts, whore." I grinned and tightened my grip on his throat a little.

"Try me, Dracian."

I think I might have enjoyed killing him a little too much. The first thing I did was make him mute. I crushed his voice box so he wouldn't be able to scream while I killed him. I dragged it out as long as I could and made it as painful and horrible as was manageable. Before biting into his neck and drinking him dry, I said goodbye to him in the most arrogant voice I could muster.

When he was dead, I went back to Aro and his coven and felt a great relief taken from my shoulders. As the days went by, people questioned what happened to the people I killed. It took a few days for them to suspect me, but that suspicion was gone when a witness told the soldiers that they saw me killed by the senators who also ended up dead. I stayed out of the streets of Rome for years after that. I didn't want to risk anyone recognizing me, though the chances of that were really slim.

I wished I could go home, but Aro told me it was out of the question. My family had long since though I was dead or ran away and seeing them would add unneeded complications to my life. So I stayed with Aro and his coven, The Volturi, and lived my life with them as their manipulator of relationships to lean vampires on our side.


	7. Titus Valerius: Genius in the Brothel

**Genius in the Brothel**

**Rome, 71 b.c.**

I was sitting in the room with Pompeia, my mother, waiting for her to finish with a client. It used to scare me and make me sick whenever I saw Pompeia with a client, but now, I didn't care anymore. I didn't see her as my mother anymore. Not really. I'd lost respect for her years ago. She always told me to be a normal boy and to stop pouting. It was never a pout, but a sneer of disgust. Eventually, I wasn't even doing that. At the age of eight, I was already completely void of any emotion. I didn't see the point in it anymore.

When the man was finally done, I looked away and waited for them to leave. I wasn't allowed anywhere else in the brothel without someone with me and there was rarely anyone available or willing to lead an eight year old around. And I avoided Miss Renata because she would beat me whenever she had the chance. I had to do everything myself, never receiving any help from anyone. I taught myself how to read and write, I could read music and play music, I would experiment with chemicals for fun, anything to keep me occupied.

"Just go to the front desk and Miss Renata will collect your payment there." The man my mother had serviced nodded his head.

"Of course." He spanked Pompeia once before walking out of the room. Then Pompeia looked at me with a slight look of contempt.

"What's wrong, Titus?" I rolled my eyes.

"Every day, you ask me the same question and every day, I tell you the same thing. There's nothing wrong."

"No one would ever know with a face like yours. It's like looking in the eyes of death. You're so vacant." I looked at Pompeia and didn't change my expression and said my sarcastic piece.

"And I'm sure that you as a loving mother are very concerned about my mental wellbeing." Pompeia sneered at me and walked over to slap me. I didn't even flinch when she hit me. It was a far cry from the worst I'd ever been through. Even being whipped didn't hurt anymore.

"Watch the way you speak to me, Titus. I'm your mother, and I will be treated with the respect I deserve."

"You haven't earned that respect from me, Pompeia. You're not my mother, only the woman that carried me while I grew." She slapped me again and I still didn't flinch.

"I brought you into this world and that makes me your mother. You will address me as your mother and treat me with the respect I deserve as your mother."

"You're my mother when it's most convenient for you, Pompeia. Otherwise, I'm just a burden you were forced to bare."

Pompeia glared at me wide eyed for a moment before she slapped me one more time and left the room altogether at long as. When she was gone, I took out a knife and some wood and made myself something. Miss Renata always took these things away, but it was one of the few ways to entertain myself that I had here.

It took me an hour and a half to finish what I was making, and when I was done I was really proud of it. I'd carved the image of Cerberus and had made him as gruesome and powerful looking as I could. It was written down stories of the gods and their pets that taught me how to read. When I was done carving it out, I left the room as quietly as I could and looked through the brothel for paint. I knew there was some here, certainly enough for me to make Cerberus black with red eyes like the stories say.

When I found it, I brought it back to the room I was supposed to be in and started painting. Shortly after I got back, Pompeia came back with another customer. He was probably a soldier. He looked desperate from what I could tell. He looked a little surprised to see me, but as soon as Pompeia started servicing him, he forgot all about me. I'd learned a long time ago to just ignore her whenever she had a client. Even if she was on all fours taking balls to the face.

I ignored them the whole time and kept my attention on my little figurine that I'd made, trying to make it look perfect. I painted carefully, not wanting to risk smearing the paint with my fingers, so painting took a little longer. Pompeia and her client were finished with their business before I was done painting, but I was almost done. All I needed to do were the legs and eyes. Pompeia told the man to go to the front desk where Miss Renata was and she looked at me as soon as the man was gone. I ignored her.

"What are you doing?"

"Making a figure."

"I can see that. A figure of what?"

"Cerberus." She gave me a weird look.

"Why would you make a figure of a guardian of the dead?" I held back my sarcastic sigh.

"Cerberus isn't a guardian of the dead, he guards the River Sticks so souls can't escape Hades. You'd know that if you ever read any of the scrolls we have lying around the brothel." Pompeia was silent a moment, so I didn't pay her any mind. Then she took the Cerberus figurine from my hands, looked at it a moment, then rolled her eyes at me.

"If you're so god damn smart, why don't you just read them?"

Without another word from either of us, Pompeia left the room with my Cerberus figurine in hand, most likely planning to give it to Miss Renata to dispose of. With nothing left to do, I left the room to look for a scroll and went right back to the room when I found one. I didn't see Pompeia for the rest of that day, to my relief. I didn't see her again until late in the afternoon when she was getting ready for bed.

"Did you save some food for me?" Pompeia nodded.

"Yeah, it's downstairs. There wasn't much left when I last checked, so you better get down there quick." I rolled my eyes with a silent sigh as I closed the scroll and walked downstairs. Far be it beyond my mother to make sure I eat.

There wasn't much left, but it was enough to tide me over. How I wasn't skin and bones, I'd never know. It was a slimy soup like thing that tasted awful, but it was comparatively better than most food I got to eat. I went right back upstairs when I was done eating. I didn't want to encounter Miss Renata today. I heard she was in a really bad mood today, something to do with her husband. I didn't pay attention to the extent of the details. All I knew was that today was a day I wanted to avoid her.

Pompeia was already asleep when I got upstairs to our room, so I took my normal spot as far away from her in the room as possible and tried to sleep. I always had a really hard time sleeping. I would lay awake for at least an hour before I was anywhere near tired. It felt like as soon as I went to sleep, I was forced awake again early in the morning from Pompeia roughly nudging me awake.

"Wake up. There's breakfast downstairs. If you want any, you better get down there." As Pompeia walked out of the room to go downstairs, I pushed myself out of bed, feeling groggy and heavy-eyed.

When I got downstairs, there was still some food left, so I grabbed enough to keep me satisfied. I wasn't sure who cooked the food at the brothel, but I was convinced this person was slowly trying to poison us all with rancid food. When I finished my food, I left the kitchen area and ran back upstairs so I could get a bath before any of the other women in the brothel. When I was done with my bath, I looked for an instrument to play and went back to the room I was supposed to be in when I found something.

I was relieved to have the whole room to myself for most of the day. It wasn't often that I ever had more than one hour to myself to do what I please without being scolded or yelled at. But later in the day, I heard the tell tale footsteps coming towards the room and did my best to ignore it. Pompeia came in with a customer who looked like he was in a good mood until he saw me. I tried to ignore him, but he didn't pay me the same respect.

"Why is there a child in here?" Pompeia looked at me, then back at her customer trying to get his attention back.

"Pay him no mind. He's just my son. He won't be a bother." The man looked at her surprised.

"You let your child stay in here when you have a customer?" Pompeia tried looking innocent. It never ceased to disgust me how easily manipulated a desperate man was. I kept my rolling eyes to myself of course.

"It doesn't bother him. He keeps himself entertained and doesn't pay attention to what I'm doing."

"Of course he pays attention. He's a child." Pompeia finally lost her patience with the man and crossed her arms.

"Either you want a good fuck or not."

"Not when a little kid's in the room. Get rid of the boy, and there won't be an issue." Pompeia sighed and looked at me.

"You heard him, boy. Get out." I finally looked at them and didn't change my apathetic expression. I wasn't surprised I was being kicked out anyway.

"Where am I supposed to go?"

"I don't care where you go. Just get out of here. I don't make any money if I don't couple this man, and if I lose money because of you, it's the whip." I held up my hands in mock defensiveness.

"Oh, I'm so scared, Pompeia." Without another word from either of us aside from a sneer from Pompeia, I walked out of the room and let her get to work.

Miss Renata was out for the day to my relief. The brothel was being run by her daughter for the time being. Her daughter thought I was cute, so she never bothered me. I took a seat in the showing room where customers would come in and see the whore selection and sat down on one of the pillows and started playing. There was another person there. He wasn't a boy, but he wasn't quite a man yet either. I didn't pay him any mind when I got in the room and started playing until he started talking to me.

"Are you waiting for your dad too?" I laughed without humor.

"I've been waiting for my dad for eight years." The guy was quiet a moment, probably trying to figure out what I meant. When it clicked, his voice seemed filled with pity. It made me mad.

"So your mom's one of the whores here?"

"I prefer to call her Pompeia." Once again, he looked confused a moment.

"You call your mom by her name?"

"So?"

"So, isn't that being disrespectful?" I looked at him with mock surprise.

"No, you think?"

"No need for sarcasm. It was just a question." I sighed.

"Yes, and next time you have a question, make sure it's a good one before you waste my time with it." The guy looked offended and looked away from me. I kept playing my instrument and was ready to end the conversation all together. But he decided to continue.

"I see you have a whore's polite demeanor."

"I learned from the best."

"I'm sure your mother's very proud." I laughed without humor. He actually laughed a little himself, which took me by surprise, though I didn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that. "I'm Evander by the way." This time, I did look at him strangely.

"Titus."

"It's nice to meet you, Titus. I can tell you're not really a talker, but would you mind talking to me while I wait for my dad?"

"I can't imagine why you would want to talk to me, but feel free." He laughed a little.

"For someone who was born a slave, you're quite outspoken."

"For someone who's waiting for his dad to finish his business with my mother, you're quite talkative." This time, he laughed loudly. It took me by surprise. No one's ever considered my sarcasm and snarky attitude funny.

"You've got a point I suppose. With a sense of humor like this, everyone must love you."

"Quite the opposite actually. Just about everyone here hates me. They think I'm depressing and cynical."

"I do too, but that's what makes you amusing. Growing up in a whore house, I'm amazed you have a sense of humor."

"What sense of humor? I point out people's stupidity because I have nothing better to do."

"I can see that."

"Why did your father bring you with him to a brothel? This isn't an errand that a father and son do together."

"This was actually supposed to be for me. I'm turning twenty two soon and this is my father's gift to me. I didn't like any of the girls, so he's taking me somewhere else later and having some fun while he's here."

"Wow. Nothing says happy birthday son like a good fuck from a prostitute." He laughed again.

"Exactly. So how old are you?"

"Eight." Evander looked surprised.

"Seriously? I figured you were at least thirteen. You act older than you are."

"I get that a lot."

"So do you know who your father is? My father's a meat vender, so he might know him."

"Why would being a meat vender make him know my father?"

"Because, meat venders sell and cut meat for most the whole city. And with all the regulars, it's easy to remember them by name and face." I looked at him a moment and shrugged.

"Do you know Titan Valero? Pompeia says he's my father." Evander, to my surprise, smiled and nodded his head.

"Sure do. He used to be a soldier, now he works for this man from the country as a hit man. Don't worry, you're not missing anything. He's kind of a prick."

"Shocker." Evander laughed a little again and shook his head.

"Maybe I should tell him about you. He might just free you."

"How wonderful. A bastard father sounds ten times better than a brothel of whores that hate me."

"You could just say, 'Don't bother'."

"No, I'm saying that's a good idea. Sorry, I'm so used to being sarcastic that I have a hard time speaking in any other manner." Evander smiled.

"I understand. The sooner you leave the brothel, the better. You're already nuts. A few more years and you won't be worthy of being called a human being anymore."

"I'm not already?" Despite it being a serious question, Evander laughed at my statement, taking it as a joke.

"Funny, Titus."

"Glad my rudeness is amusing to you."

"Indeed it is, Titus." I wasn't really sure how to respond to Evander. I was so used to being treated like a thing that it was bizarre being treated like a human being and being spoken to like an equal.

Evander kept our conversation going for a good hour before the man Pompeia had been with came down and told Evander they were leaving. Evander smiled at me one last time before waving and saying goodbye to me. It took a minute for me to come up with an appropriate response to his actions. I was so confused by the way he was treating me. When they were gone, Pompeia came back downstairs and grabbed a hold of me and pulled me with her back up the stairs.

"I should make you stay out of the room more often. Once you were gone, he paid all his attention to me."

"How nice."

"Nice indeed. I think I've just hooked a new regular. So that'll make Miss Renata very pleased." I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"You know, Pompeia, for a woman that's a sex slave, you seem oddly eager to please." She nodded at me with a sneer.

"Yes, and you know what that gets me? Treated decently. We all might actually like you if you made an effort to be a half way decent child."

"And I might act like a half way decent child, Pompeia, if you were a half way decent mother. I would've been more normal if I were raised by wolves."

"I'm a hair away from feeding you to the wolves, Titus." When we reached the room, she threw me in and I managed to gain my balance before falling over. "Now stay in here and keep yourself out of trouble. I have work to do."

When Pompeia closed the door after leaving the room, I sat against one of the wall on a pillow trying to think of what I could do to pass the time. There was nothing in the room for me to carve, so I walked out of the room and looked around for something to do while being sure to stay out of sight of any of the other whores. I ended up finding a large bag filled with bottles in the hallway. I opened the bag to see what was in it and was pleasantly surprised to find a whole bunch of different tonics and chemicals.

I looked around really quick to make sure no one saw me, and I took the bag with me to the other room when I knew I was alone. I looked through all the bottles trying to figure out what they all were. Conveniently enough, they were all labeled. Some of them were mushrooms and flowers while others were colored liquids that smelled like fruits and vegetables. The bag also had bowls with mashers for the other herbs in the bottles.

I looked at each bottle and put things together that smelled good. I used an excessive amount of the mushrooms that were in the jars. They wouldn't blend with the other tonics I was mixing together, but I kept them in anyway. The mushrooms were odd colors and it seemed like it would do something. I combined several different tonics until I came out with a liquid that went from deep purple to clear as water. I was stunned by the sudden change in color.

"What are you doing?" I looked up and saw Pompeia in the doorway giving me a weird look. I shrugged.

"Mixing."

"Mixing what? Where did you get that?"

"I found it."

"You found it where?"

"In the hallway." Pompeia's eyes widened.

"You stole a customer's tonics?!" I shrugged apathetically.

"Yeah, so?" I honestly saw no harm in stealing. I'd had things stole from me all the time. I was used to it by now and figured if someone stole something from me, I could always get it back later, so there was no point in crying about it.

"What the hell do you mean, 'yeah so'?! We're the ones that get in trouble when a customer's things go missing."

"They didn't go missing, they're right here. And he can have it all back before he leaves."

"That's not the point, Titus! You stole a customer's things!"

"You know, I wish you would react this way whenever my things were taken from me."

"What the hell's going on in here?" Miss Renata walked into the room behind Pompeia with scolding eyes. Eager to take the blame from herself, Pompeia pointed a finger at me accusingly.

"He stole a customer's things." Miss Renata immediately looked at me with a glare.

"You what?!" Having had enough of being yelled at, I rolled my eyes and stood up holding the large bag.

"Here, take it. If you're going to make such a fuss about it, then I don't want it." Pompeia walked over and took the bag from me. Miss Renata noticed the bowl filled with different things that I'd been working on and looked back at me accusingly.

"What's in the bowl?" I looked at it and shrugged.

"Something I made with the man's tonics." Miss Renata didn't look convinced.

"It looks like water filled with mashed up mushrooms."

"It used to be purple. But then I added this one herbal tonic and it turned clear." She walked over to the bowl, never taking her eyes off me. She picked up the bowl and held it to her nose a moment, then she looked impressed.

"I won't pretend it doesn't smell good." She held it to her nose a few more seconds, then looked at Pompeia. "Smell this." Pompeia looked reluctant, but she walked over and smelled it, also looking surprised.

"It does." Miss Renata looked at me again. This time her face was curious. Then she looked at Pompeia again.

"Taste this. I want to see if it tastes as good as it smells." Once again, Pompeia looked really reluctant to do it. But without a word, she took a sip of the clear liquid from the bowl and looked surprised.

"It's really good." Miss Renata looked at me and for the first time in my life, she smiled at me. It scared me.

"Looks like you finally did something right, Titus." Then she looked at Pompeia and noticed, as did I, that she looked a little disoriented. "Pompeia, what's wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry Miss Renata. I just lost myself for a moment." We both looked at her a moment, trying to figure out what was wrong with her. I ignored it when she left the room. Miss Renata took the bowl of liquid I'd made with her and once again left me with nothing to do.

I left the room and started looking around the brothel looking for something to do. I found a scroll that I'd read several times before and picked it up and took it back to the room to read and pass the time. I couldn't ask for silence, but there wasn't as much loud noises coming from the other rooms as there usually were, so I was grateful for that much. About fifteen minutes later, I heard someone running up the stairs and didn't acknowledge them until that person barged into the room. I looked up and saw Miss Renata standing in the doorway looking at me accusingly.

"What did you make?"

"What are you talking about?"

"That elixir you made, what is it? I set up you mother with a client and she said it felt better and she was having hallucinations while servicing the client that made the sex even better." I gave her a weird stare.

"Why do I need to know this?" Miss Renata got frustrated with me and ran over to me and grabbed a hold of me when she was close enough.

"Do you remember how you made it? Do you remember the exact ingredients?" I did. Of course I did. But what was in this for me was what determined whether I told her that or not.

"Why?"

"I want you to make more of it, what else?! I want you to remember exactly what you did so I can sell this stuff. If I can make a customer's time here more appealing by inducing passionate hallucinations, my business would boom. I need you to make more." I pushed her hands away from me and walked around to the other side of the room looking suspicious.

"Why should I do that for you? What's in it for me?" Miss Renata looked appalled by what I said. But she kept that to herself and tried to reason with me.

"I'll make it worth your while. I'll be kinder to you, you'll get better food and get it first, I'll give you a working position here at the brothel, anything you want. Just tell me what you want and I'll make sure you get it as long as you make more of that potion you made."

"Why should I help you? You won't stay true to your word. As soon as I've made enough, you'll just revert back to the way you always treat me and expect me to make more when you run out."

"I won't Titus, I promise. I'll even let you have some of the money I make with it."

"I'm a slave, Miss Renata, what do I need money for? What could I possibly buy with that money? I couldn't buy my freedom. Who cares if I have the money to buy something nice if I don't have the freedom to enjoy it?"

"You're right. If you do this for me, then I'll give you your freedom when you're older and tell me how to make the elixir myself."

"No you won't, Miss Renata. The moment I help you, nothing will change. I know you, you wrinkled old whore, you won't help me." Miss Renata finally lost her patience with me and ran over to slap me. I took the slap like it was nothing at let her vent.

"You listen to me, and you listen good. You're the bastard one of my whores produced and if I can get anything worthwhile out of your miserable existence, then I fucking will. I let you come into this world, and don't think I wouldn't take back my act of generosity."I fought a laugh at her ridiculous statement and didn't hesitate to make my sarcastic comment.

"Generosity? You've made my life miserable since the day I was born into this world. And no one has less to do with me coming into it as you. You can sell the stuff I made already, but don't bother asking me to make more for you. Slave or not, I have no intention of helping anyone who's hurt me. That includes you." I received another vicious slap from Miss Renata.

"Fine! I'll just get the man you stole the tonics from to remake it for me! I'm sure it's nothing he can't figure out how to do on his own! I gave you a chance you little heathen. Don't ever expect me to be so generous again!"

Then, with a deep scowl on her face and the wrinkles pronounced, she walked out of the room and left me alone at last. I heard Miss Renata try to woo the customer into figuring out what I'd done so she could make more of it. Evidently, the customer was outraged that his things were stolen and refused to do so. He also left proclaiming that he would never be a customer here again, which of course Miss Renata didn't take kindly to at all.

She brought out her frustrations on me as she usually did and once again demanded that I tell her how to make the elixir I'd made. But no matter how much she beat me, I never told her and never agreed to make it for her. I wouldn't reduce myself to a petty failure with a weak will. Even when she threatened to kill me, I wouldn't tell her.

Eventually, she gave up on me and took the elixir to a medicine man that lived near the brothel and asked him to figure out how I'd made the drug. The medicine man wasn't able to make an exact copy. The stuff he made gave the user hallucinations, but evidently, the hallucinations were always scary, portraying a person's phobia. I got a hold of the drug and was easily able to figure out the problem. He handed used the fruits and herbs that I'd used. He still used the strange colored mushrooms, but that wasn't enough to have the affect my stuff had. I had to grin when Miss Renata's plot wasn't going quite her way.

She gave up on the substitute that the medicine man made and stuck to selling mine. It hadn't taken much for Pompeia to get the reaction she had, so Miss Renata sold the drug in small containers that were no bigger than my thumb. It was a hit with any customer that was willing to try it. Of course, because it did so well, it was gone within a few days. I wouldn't lie. Seeing Miss Renata struggle with demanding customers who occasionally got violent was more enjoyable to me than it probably should be. I never thought that making this woman squirm would be so satisfying.

One day when the pressure was too much for her, she came to the room I was in and interrupted me while I was reading. She forced the book out of my hands and placed in front of me a large bag that held all the tonics I needed and then some, just in case I'm sure. I looked at the bag a moment, then looked up at Miss Renata again with a curios look.

"What's all this for?" She rolled her eyes and sighed. Somehow, I think she knew I was taunting her. I was enjoying it too.

"This is all the tonics that man had with him the other day. I checked with him, so I know they're all right." I looked at the bag, looked at her, and kept myself from smiling, trying to look serious.

"And?" The look on her face was priceless, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. It was a sneer combined with a face about to cry with a look of disbelief, all of which she was trying to keep to herself behind a straight face.

"For an eight year old, you're pretty cunning. You're enjoying the trouble this is giving me aren't you?" Again, I fought a smile and kept a look of seriousness.

"I'm but a small boy. I'm not capable of such ruthless behavior."

"Damn it, boy, stop mocking me! Child or not, you know exactly what you're doing and you're enjoying every second of it! I know you are you little bastard."

"That's not going to get me to agree to make more of that drug for you."

Though my face was relatively blank, I said it like a person would when they were lecturing a small child. It was the same tone she used with me whenever she tried to make something I did or said look stupid. She was furious, I could tell. But she held it in and tried to speak to me in a voice that was calm and rational as she could muster.

"I suppose not." Miss Renata rubbed her face a little, trying to keep her frustrations at a standstill. Then when she had enough control, she looked at me again with a stern face. "Just tell me what I can do to make you change your mind."

"Pleasing you is the last thing on my mind Miss Renata. I won't help you in your petty gains when we both know damn well that I won't get anything out of it. I may only be eight, but I know when I'm being shortchanged. I won't give you the satisfaction."

Miss Renata sneered at me again. She'd finally lost every ounce of her patience. I expected her to hit and yell at me. So I wasn't surprised when she slapped me, leading into a nasty beating that I knew all too well. But no matter how many punches she threw at me, I didn't give in to her demands. Eventually she gave up and walked out. She spent a good week trying to copy what I did and make the tonic herself. She gave up after several failures, one of which made one of the young whores violently ill. I would never let her see it, but every time she failed, I smiled a little to myself, getting joy from her failure.


	8. A Slave Becomes a Man

**A Slave Becomes a Man**

**Rome 64 b.c.**

For the past few years, Andros, Evander's father, has been a frequent comer of the brothel I lived in. And since they worked together in the butcher shop his father owned, Evander would join him here, though Evander insisted in not partaking of the women available. He'd been married recently and was quite in love with his wife. Cornelia I believe her name was. So consequently, we spoke often. I'd never had anyone I would ever consider a friend until I met Evander. He was charismatic, which I frankly found arrogant and annoying, but he had a good sense of humor and was big hearted, so I did my best to forgive such a flaw as arrogance. After all, his good qualities far surpassed those of his bad, and it was nice to have someone to talk to.

Today was a day like any other. Evander and I were sitting together in one of the showing rooms talking about whatever there was to talk about. We'd been friends now for about seven years now. I'd discovered that Evander was a natural born politician. It's a shame he wasn't born in a higher class. He would've excelled in politics no doubt. He would often tell me about things the Roman senate was doing and what laws were rumored to be spoken of. He even brought me new scripts when he found out I could read. He was stunned to say the least that a boy born into whore slavery would know the alphabet let alone how to read and write.

"So what are you making, Titus?" I brought the wood a little closer to him so he could see it.

"It's supposed to be a cat. I saw one perch on the window sill in my room and I really liked the position it was in. It looked really strong and confident." Evander smiled a little.

"Only you could ever see strength and spirit in a simple house cat, Titus." I shrugged.

"It keeps me entertained. When you live in a whore house, you look for beauty in anything you can. It's the only way I stay sane." Evander smiled.

"I'm amazed there's any sanity left in you. Then again, I'm also surprised that you can read and write. Most slaves are lucky if they can speak Latin." I shrugged.

"I would hope I speak Latin. I was born and raised in Rome and Pompeia speaks Latin."

"Why do you insist on calling her Pompeia? She's your mother."

"What's your point?" He sighed.

"She's your mother, that's my point. Don't you love her at least a little?"

"Evander, I have as much love for my mother as a spider has for a fly. She's never shown me an ounce of affection, she's never taken care of me, she's never said a kind word to me or defended me when I was wrongly accused of doing something wrong. She doesn't deserve for me to call her mother."

"Why hasn't the owner of this brothel sold you then?" I shrugged.

"No one wants me. She sold me to one other person and the man demanded his money back because he always caught me snooping through his stuff and reading his stuff and beating me for it never worked." Evander laughed.

"Are you so used to it?" I nodded.

"I don't even feel it anymore. You should see the scars on my back."

"I'd rather not. It would make me feel bad." I rolled my eyes a bit.

"And we all know your feelings and health is what should be foremost in our minds." Evander laughed again and sighed. He was quiet a moment, so I assumed he was done talking.

"Hey, Titus, I have an idea to I want to share with you." I kept my eyes on the block of wood I was carving, but let him know I was listening.

"And what's that?"

"What if I bought you?" I laughed without humor.

"Is there more to this idea? I can't say I like it so far."

"Don't worry, there's more. What if I were to buy you, free you, then you could work for me at the butcher shop my father and I run?"

"Your father knows who I am. I doubt he would allow me to work for him if he knows I was a slave."

"He would if he knew I was the one who bought you. My dad and I trust each other, so he would let you into the business if I give my good graces."

"Be that as it may, that doesn't mean he'll treat me with respect. I won't stay if I'm not being treated respectfully." Evander grinned.

"I understand. I come here often, so let me know when you've thought about it and have an answer for me." I nodded.

"I'll think about it." He laughed a little again.

"I can't believe you have to think about an opportunity to be guaranteed freedom." I shook my head.

"It's not a guarantee. For all I know, you or your father could put off hiring or freeing me, then before I know it, I'm still a slave, just under a different master." Evander shook his head.

"It won't. I promise. You know I wouldn't do that. Even if I were to do that, you're too smart to let that happen. You'd take matters into your own hands and run away and I'd never see you again." I smiled a little.

"I'm glad you know that."

"Of course I know that. You're a headstrong guy and you don't take getting shorthanded. I respect that immensely. That's why I offered you a job."

"I know, Evander. And I appreciate it greatly. That's why I'm seriously considering it. But you understand my concern, and that's why I would like some time to think about it." Evander smiled and nodded his head.

"You'll always have a spot at the butcher."

"I appreciate that, Evander. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Titus."

Shortly after that, Evander's father came back downstairs and told Evander he was ready to leave. I waved goodbye to Evander and he whispered to me to think about his offer. I told him I would and we waved goodbye to each other. When he was gone, I went back upstairs and continued carving the piece of wood. I was done with the body. All that was left was the face, which would be the hardest. I wanted it to be expressive the way it was when I saw it on the cat.

About an hour of working on the face as carefully as I possibly could, I finished it. I was really proud of it. Even the blood marks on it from the many times I'd cut my fingers complimented it in a way. It looked like it had small spots. It was kind of cute. I put it on the window sill where I'd first seen the cat and felt really proud of myself when I saw it.

I wasn't surprised that I fell asleep without mother in the room. This was one of the days when men would come in late at night after hours of drinking. They were usually drunk of their ass, so it was hard to predict when they would come in. It was the end of the work week for some people and they would come to the brothel to let off some steam.

I was a few short breaths from finally falling asleep when I heard the door to the room slam open. I was alert again, much to my dismay, and moved off the mat and to the corner of the room so Pompeia and her customer could have the space without argument. Neither of them acknowledged me as they went about the transaction.

Once they started, I rested my head against the wall trying to get some sleep. With all the noise in the room, I was having a really hard time falling asleep. I could normally sleep through noise, but this drunk in particular was rather loud. It was extremely obnoxious, even if he was drunk. Despite that, I did my best to ignore them so I could sleep.

But then I started hearing noises that were relatively odd. It sounded like someone's airways were being blocked and they were trying desperately to breathe. I opened my eyes and saw the man's hands around Pompeia's neck with her face turning red and trying to force his hands away from her. With no luck, she turned her attention to me. Her eyes looked pleading and expectant at the same time. I didn't bother helping her. She didn't deserve it.

The more I ignored her, the more wide eyed she became, though I suspect the act of being strangled had great deal to do with that reaction as well. She tried speaking, but all that came out were chocking bits of air forced from her lungs. Despite what he was doing, the man kept moving trying to reach his release. It was rather obvious that he got a thrill from watching someone die while he was having sex with them. An odd fetish, but I wasn't one to judge. Around the same time he came, Pompeia stopped twitching all together and her body was lifeless, though she kept the same horrified eyes from when she was fighting for her life. I wasn't even ashamed to say that the site made me smile. A just deserts moment if you will.

When she stopped moving, the man let go of her and her head plopped on the ground lifelessly. I didn't even flinch at the site. He stood away from her lifeless body, his own still undesirably exposed, and looked over in my direction. I almost laughed at this man and the look on his face. His face was beat red and he had this unusual drunken grin on his face that made me unsettled. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was planning to do next. Thankfully, there was still a large piece of wood in the room that I'd been planning to use for something else.

I'm sure he saw me as weak and defenseless judging by the way he charged at me with a deep throated featherbrained laugh. I stood from where I was sitting and waited for him to be the right distance away from me before I slammed his head with the large plank of wood, making him fall to the ground. He seemed angry and attempted to get up, but I wouldn't allow it. I kept hitting him over the head over and over again. Eventually, he stopped moving, but that wasn't good enough for me. I couldn't stop.

I kept hitting, never stopping or wanting to stop. Hearing the sound of his skull cracking provided an odd sense of satisfaction that I'd never felt before in all my life. I found more joy in this moment than I ever thought was possible.

When I finally did stop, his face was virtually nonexistent and his skull was shattered into several pieces with brain tissue hanging out, torn into several of their own pieces from the trauma to the head. There was only one part of the whole moment that scared me. It was the fact that I was beginning to laugh shamelessly. The blood, the brain tissue, the look of fear in my mother's eyes, the limpness of their bodies, it all struck me as morbidly funny. It was that much funnier to me that I was able to do this all without a shred of remorse and brush it off with the simple sentence, 'They deserved it'.

When I finally had control over my laughter, I looked at everything again and remembered that I had just committed murder. I could get in a lot of trouble for this, more trouble than I'd ever been in before. If I took the bodies out to the hallway, there would be no getting them outside without Miss Renata or her daughter seeing me. I looked at the window and considered that as an option. I walked to the window and looked outside to see where the window looked out.

I was on the second floor, so it was a relatively long way down. But from what I could see, there was a gutter in an alleyway next to the building where my window was. It was perfect. All I had to do was throw them out the window, sneak out of the building so I could push them into the gutter, and they'd never been seen or heard from again. No one will know what happened to them. It was a well known fact that if a murder ever happened, the bodies were often dumped into the sewers. Of course, the authorities never did a thing about it. If a person went missing and the victim's murder wasn't witnessed, that meant they were gone, no questions asked.

With a plan in mind, I went back to the man and Pompeia and started getting them closer to the window. Pompeia wasn't as difficult to lift as the man. He was about the size of a horse give or take, only far less majestic and certainly nowhere near as beautiful. Since the man was going to take the most work, I saved throwing him out the window for last. I picked up Pompeia and almost effortlessly threw her out the window and she landed right in the gutter below with no witnesses to her falling there.

Then I started trying to get the man out the window. As I said, he was tricky. It took all the strength my legs had to lift him to the window and push him out. I heard a loud bang when he hit the ground and I stood still a moment, waiting to hear for any other disturbances so I could cover for myself. Thankfully, there was no other sounds besides those of customers and whores screaming in fake and true ecstasy. Some whores were so used to this lifestyle, it was hard to tell when they were faking or really having an orgasm. But after living in the brothel for so many years, I knew the difference by now.

I looked out the window and noticed a vine was growing on the side of the building. I gently pulled the vine. It was growing against and into the stone wall, so I knew it was sturdy. I tried my luck and grabbed a hold of the vine and gently jumped out the window and tried climbing down the wall. Luckily, the vines were strong enough to hold my weight as I climbed down the wall. When I got to the bottom, the rats from the sewers were already investigating the bodies.

I shooed the rats away as quietly as I could so no one in the streets would hear me and pushed their bodies through the hole that led to the sewers. I heard their bodies hit the ledge, but only the man went into the water. I held my breath long enough to climb down, kicked Pompeia's body into the water, then climbed out and inhaled the semi-fresh air. I looked around to make sure no one saw me and started climbing up the wall again when it was clear. Before going back into the room, I looked around to make sure no one was in there and hopped back in when it was clear.

I already had my alibi ready. I was in the room and I saw them both fall out the window and run away. Customers often tried to get away without paying the bill and slaves running away happened all the time. And Miss Renata knew me well enough to know that if I'd in fact witnessed all this happening, I wouldn't have done a thing. She's a pretty dim candle, but even she was smart enough to know I didn't respect her enough to look out for her profit. I may even tell them I was asleep the whole time and avoid any further questions all together.

Once I listened for a moment to make sure no one was coming in, I went back to my little bed and tried to fall asleep. To my surprise, I fell asleep quickly and slept peacefully. There were no nightmares, no feelings of guilt, nothing to disturb my slumber. Oddly enough, it was the best sleep I'd had in years, if ever. Even my dreams were pleasant that night.

The next morning¸ I was forced out of my sleep from the force of someone's foot hitting my stomach. I was slammed against the wall and opened my eyes with a groan. When my eyes were open, I looked up and saw a look of death on Miss Renata's face, but didn't give her the satisfaction of looking scared. Instead, I stood on my feet and looked down at her waiting for her to talk. I was about five inches taller than the woman, so that was gratifying for me.

"Where is she?"

"Where's who?"

"Don't play stupid you little shit. You know exactly who I'm talking about. Where's Pompeia?" I fought the grin that wanted to play across my face and kept my mouth as a hard line.

"I don't know. I never saw her come to bed. I fell asleep as soon as I came back to the room. I was tired."

"Bullshit! I know you know where she is, so tell me!"

"I don't know where she is Miss Renata. You're guess to her location's as good as mine." She was silent a moment, but she never lost the suspicious look in her eyes.

"You don't know where she is?" I shook my head.

"No I don't, Miss Renata."

"Well, I've lost a whore and was stiffed by a client all in one night. That's just fantastic." She rubbed her face and glared at me more fiercely. "You're replacing her, you know." This took me by surprise.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Titus. If I can't make money off your mother, then you'll just have to replace her. You've been a deadbeat in this brothel for fifteen years. The least you can do is take over in your mother's absence."

"I'm not one of your whores, Miss Renata."

"You're the son of one of my whores. A slave can only give birth to another slave, which is what you are."

"And I've done slave's work for you, but this is something I won't do. I've been belittled and pushed aside all my life. I won't be reduced any further to a cock sucking whore." Then Miss Renata slapped me across the face as hard as she could. It stung, but I still didn't flinch.

"You'll be reduced to whatever I say you'll be reduced to. Now get downstairs so you're ready for line-up."

Making sure I couldn't say another word, Miss Renata left the room, slamming the door behind her. I wasn't planning to go downstairs, so I stayed in the room and started working on something else that was in the room. I wanted to make another figure to join the little cat I had on the window sill. I was starting to get some definition on the little dog's head when the door to my room opened and I saw one of the other whores walk in.

"Has it ever occurred to you to knock?"

"Shove the sarcasm up your ass, Titus, and get downstairs. We have a few customers that are new here and they want to have both male and female options."

I was silent and stared at her angrily for a moment. Without any way to argue out of the situation, I put the little dog on the floor with the knife and walked with the whore downstairs. I figured I didn't have much chance of getting picked anyway. When I got downstairs, Miss Renata told me to take off my shirt before going in line. When I refused, she forced it off me herself and threw me in line.

There was a man in the room sitting on a fluffy pillow in the room looking at us closely, trying to pick who he liked the best. Miss Renata introduced us all by describing what he would like about us, like I had tan skin and was young, fresh, and innocent, another was fresh off the boat, and so on. I noticed the man was looking at me rather closely and it made me extremely mad. I gave him the meanest look I could so I could intimidate him out of picking me.

"So have you decided which one you like the most?" The man looked down the line trying to remember everything Miss Renata had told him. When he looked over everyone in line once, he looked right at me again. I sneered at him again, trying to discourage him from picking me.

"What did you say about this one?" Miss Renata looked at me again, then at the man with a smile.

"He's been in the brothel for years, but he's still pure. He's never felt a woman's warmth nor has he been penetrated himself. He's the cleanest whore here." I glared at Miss Renata for her choice of words. The man looked intrigued.

"So he's a virgin you say?" Miss Renata nodded her head.

"Clean as spring water." The man laughed a little at her statement. I never stopped giving him a dirty look, even if it seemed to be doing me no good at this point.

"I can tell. He looks desperate for me not to pick him. Am I to assume that he's a tough kid?" Miss Renata smiled nervously.

"In a manner, he is. But don't worry, he won't hurt you." He laughed again.

"I'm not worried about him hurting me, Miss Renata. I've been in the army for twenty years. I can handle anything this kid tries to throw at me." Miss Renata smiled widely.

"Does this mean you're picking him?" The man nodded and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I wouldn't let this happen. "Excellent! Now he is a virgin, so he's worth a little more money, but I promise you he will be worth every cent."

"I know he will. He's a good looking thing. I can't wait."

"Excellent. He'll be waiting for you upstairs." Then Miss Renata grabbed a hold of my arm and led me to the stairs, pushing me to walk upstairs. "Now you get up there and make me some money." Then she walked back into the room to handle the money situation. Miss Renata usually lets the customer wait until the end to pay. But it would seem she wasn't planning to take that chance after a customer 'stiffed' her.

I already had no intention of letting this man anywhere near me. The only question was how would I get out of this unscathed and with as little potential trouble to myself from Miss Renata as possible. I thought about it all the way to my room, trying to go over every possible strategy that came to my mind. When I got back to my room, I looked in the direction of my little wooden figurine that I'd been working on, then remembered that I had a knife in this room. Maybe this wouldn't be as difficult as I thought it would be. All I had to do was threaten him with the knife and kill him if he refused to leave me alone.

I went over and grabbed a hold of the knife and faced the door. I was ready and waiting for him to come to my room for what he paid for, but I wouldn't let him have it. I waited a moment with the knife in hand before I heard the tell tale footsteps in the hallway that told me he was on his way to my room. I tightened my grip on the knife in anticipation. I could feel a sort of adrenaline rush as I heard him get closer and closer to my room. When he opened the door to come into my room and saw the knife in my hand, he laughed to himself and closed the door.

"You really are a feisty one aren't you?" I grinned a little. I'm not sure why I did. Something about this situation just struck me as funny. "You think you can kill me with a knife alone?"

"I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you." He grinned at my challenge and started walking closer to me at a slow pace. I kept the knife up and ready and walked back, but never gave him the satisfaction of a look of fear.

"You should take your own advice, boy. You're up against a captain of the army. A mere slave like yourself doesn't stand a chance against me and my brains and strength. You'll be on that floor with my cock slammed in your ass before you can blink." I grinned and blinked, just to taunt him.

"Interesting. I've blinked and yet I'm still standing."

"Ah, so you're a smart ass. I don't usually like a smart ass. But I must admit, on a handsome boy like you, it's rather cute."

"I'm interested to see if you still feel that way when I carve this knife into your stomach. I know just where to cut you so your digestive system will be slit and kill you slowly and painfully."

"Do you now? Well then, little boy, let's see what you've got."

I half expected him to charge at me and I was prepared for just that. But he didn't move towards me. Instead, he looked confused that I wasn't charging towards him. I did what he did and held a defensive stance. He didn't take me seriously, so it wouldn't be long before he lost his patience with me and tried to come at me. All I had to do was wait him out. As I predicted he would, he lost his patience and grabbed a knife from inside his sleeve. Once he had that, he started moving cautiously, still not charging at me, but coming closer and closer, waiting for me to attack.

I didn't back away when he started coming closer to me. That would make him charge at me and I had the feeling he was a faster guy. The guy from last night had been a bent out of shape pig and wasn't hard to avert. This guy was different. He was a younger soldier and was perfectly capable of holding his own in a fight. I stayed cautious and never took my eyes of him and never let him be behind me. When he was close enough that he was satisfied or had finally had enough, he threw his arm up and was about to stab at me. I dodged, managing to miss the blow for the most part and escape with just a cut on my shoulder. When I was off to the side, I took the opportunity to stab him myself.

But he was faster. He grabbed a hold of the hand I was about to stab him with and made a move to stab my stomach. Once again, I dodged and got away with just a cut on the side of my body. I kicked him in the crotch as hard as I could and he made one yelp in pain and looked on the verge of tears from the pain. He even looked like he would vomit. I didn't waste any time. When he was on the ground cringing in pain, I stuck the blade in his mouth and he looked horrified. The look on his face made me laugh.

"It's weird. I've never had this much power before. Here I am, this lowly slave, and yet I'm deciding whether or not you live. It's almost overwhelming how good this feels." He sneered.

"You'll pay for this." I grinned.

"Only if I get caught." I came slightly closer to him. "Only if you live to tell the tale. And as I'm sure you've guessed, that won't be an option for you."

Then with a swift movement of my hand, the knife went through his skin and he was left with a huge bleeding cut on his face. He bent over for a mere second, then looked up, about to attack again. I just kept grinning and ran the blade over his throat. He stood still, eyes wide, as blood poured and some got onto me. I could even see the bone of his neck. Something about that was immensely pleasing. I watched him lose blood and eventually collapse with his horrified eyes wide open and his body limp on the ground.

I listened for a moment, making sure that no one had heard me or what happened. When it sounded clear, I threw the knife against the wall and looked at the window. The man already paid, so I couldn't say he hopped out of the window and stiffed us. Even if I tried that, I wouldn't be able to hide the fact that the floor was now covered in blood. I looked at the window and an idea came to my mind. No one would say a word if I were to climb out that window. It would be hours before anyone at this brothel noticed I was gone. I smiled thinking I'd finally found a way out.

Just like I'd done last night when disposing of the bodies, I climbed out the window and used the vines to climb down the side. I kept my eyes in the direction of the streets to make sure no one saw me. There was a couple in the ally, but they were too busy with each other to notice me climbing down the wall. When I was on the ground, I looked around again to make sure no one saw me. Once it was clear, I walked out of the ally, the couple completely ignoring me, and went to the streets and tried to look unsuspicious, hiding the scratches on my arm and waist.

I had never been there before, but I knew where Evander's meat place was. Some of the better known stores were near the coliseum, so all I needed to do was circle the coliseum until I found Evander or his father. It took forever to find it. I was beginning to get dizzy from the loss of blood. Even though the wounds weren't nearly as bad as they could've been, I was still losing a lot of blood and it was making me lightheaded. It was nightfall by the time I finally found the shop and it looked like they were about to close it off. I saw Evander sweeping and started walking as fast as my dizzy legs would take me. Evander glanced up, then down, then looked up again when he realized I was walking towards him.

"Titus? What happened to you? What's wrong? You're bleeding." I tried answering him, but my voice was weak. I was about to lose consciousness. I didn't bother trying to stay awake anymore. When I reached Evander, I fell into his arms and all went black.

I woke up to the feel of something cool on my forehead and the sting of alcohol being put on my wounds. I woke up violently and the woman attending to my wounds screamed in surprise. I backed away from her while she stood from her seat next to the bed and Evander ran in with concern on his face.

"Titus, it's okay! This is my wife Cornelia! She was only trying to clean you up. You don't need to be afraid." I looked at Evander and Cornelia and tried to calm my breath.

"Where am I?"

"You're in my home. Don't worry, my father hasn't seen you. I took you here when you lost consciousness." I finally calmed down a little and rested on the wall.

"Oh. Thank you, Evander."

"So tell me what happened." Evander glanced at Cornelia. "Could you give us some privacy, my dear?" She smiled and nodded her head, then smiled kindly at me before walking out of the room. When she was gone, I sighed.

"A client murdered my mother. He tried to attack me, but I killed him. I threw them both out the window and into the sewers so no one would find them. I went back in and slept for the night and pretended to know nothing when Miss Renata interrogated me. But with Pompeia dead, she made me replace her. The first client she gave me was a soldier. I killed him and left through the window and came here. I didn't know where else to go."

"It's alright, Titus. Everything's okay now. I'll take you to the court house first thing tomorrow and I'll free you. Once you're free, Miss Renata won't be able to do a thing. You will be legally free and a Roman citizen."

"She'll have a warrant out for me."

"It doesn't matter. Once you're free, she doesn't have any legal permission to take you back. And since I was the one who freed you, I'm the legal owner."

"How does that make sense?"

"It's politics, Titus. It doesn't have to make sense. Romans are generally too stupid to know they're being fed bullshit."

"So you can just walk me into the courthouse and demand to free me?"

"Yes I can. You already know how to read and write, so all you have to do is fill out a few forms that make you an official freed man. Nothing to it."

"I don't know what to say, Evander."

"Say nothing, my friend. It's sometimes best. You won't be my slave, but my employee at the store father and I work at."

"Would your father approve?"

"He doesn't know you like you think. I don't really tell him about you because he doesn't usually care. Father and I share a business and that's as close as we get."

"Then why did you always go to the brothel with him?"

"It was his way of trying to make me a man. Now it's just kind of a routine. But regardless, you have nothing to worry about. Just come over, ask for a job, I'll 'interview' you and give you the job and there won't be any problems."

"And you're positive this'll work?"

"More certain than I've ever been about anything." I sighed.

"Thank you, Evander."

"It's the least I can do. When Cornelia finishes up with you, then you can get some sleep. You deserve it."

I thanked Evander again and he walked out with a smile. When he was gone, Cornelia came back in and finished cleaning my cuts. When she was done, she wished me goodnight and walked out, leaving me be. I was relieved to be alone. And I was relieved to be in a real bed. It was the best bed I'd ever had the pleasure of sleeping in. I was finally free. And I couldn't think of a single thing that had ever made me happier.


	9. The Heartless

**The Heartless**

**Rome 58 B.C.**

"Titus, when you're done butchering that lamb, I have a few chickens I need you to de-feather a few chickens that were just brought to us."

"Alright, Evander. I'm almost done with the sheep." Evander smiled, acknowledging that he heard me, then walked off to do what he needed to do.

I've been working for Evander for six years now. When he first brought me here, his father didn't recognize me as Pompeia's son and thought nothing of it when he agreed to let me work at the butcher shop. Evander's father passed away three years after I started working there, leaving Evander the owner and my primary boss. He paid me well and was kind enough to let me stay with him and his wife and two daughters until I was able to find my own place to stay. Right now, I live in the complex down the street from the shop. It's plenty of space for being just me and my neighbors are, for the most part, quiet and don't bother me.

"Where do you want this, Evander?" Evander looked at me, then looked in the direction of the space where people waiting could pick up their meat.

"Tell the woman we're sorry for the wait." I nodded and walked over to the pickup spot and held up the lamb, letting whoever ordered it that the lamb was butchered. A woman in slave's robes and a woman in expensive garments walked over.

"Well, it's about damn time. What took so long?"

"Sorry for the wait, ma'am. I hope we didn't inconvenience you too much." The woman gave me a snide look before telling her slave to grab the meat so they could leave.

When she was gone, I went to the back where the chickens were and started getting to work on de-feathering and butchering them. When I was finally finished with the chickens, I put them all in the salt so they would last the night and could be sold tomorrow. I was relieved to be done for the day. I was tired and planned to go to bed as soon as I got home. But while I was walking out, Evander stopped me.

"Hey, Titus. Do you have any plans for tonight?"

"No. Do you need me to stay a few more hours?" Evander shook his head.

"No. I actually wanted to invite you to have dinner at my house. I wanted to introduce you to someone."

"Who?"

"Do you remember when my sister came over to the shop? She talked to you while you were in the back cutting some ribs."

"Barely. I wasn't really listening to her. Why do you want to introduce me to her?" Evander gave me an odd look before answering me.

"Well, Perseia thought you were charming and she wanted to get a chance to talk to you a little more."

"Why?" Evander sighed and walked a little closer to me.

"Titus, have you considered getting yourself a wife?"

"No, I don't need one."

"Of course you do. Everyone needs a wife. A wife keeps the home clean and takes care of the children."

"I don't have children. And my house is plenty clean without a wife."

"Don't be that way, Titus. I'm asking you as a friend."

"First you said you wanted to introduce me now you want me to get a wife? I hardly know your sister."

"I know, Titus, but I know you and that's good enough. My sister is eligible to be married and it's either you or a loan shark that lives in the run down whorehouse a few blocks from here. So do me a favor and marry my sister."

"Evander, doing you a favor would be me dropping something off for you or running an errand. Marrying your sister is a lot more than a favor."

"Just come to my house for dinner tonight, meet Perseia, and if she likes you, then we'll talk about the wedding arrangements."

"I didn't say a word to her. How does she have basis to take interest in me in the first place?"

"She thought you were charming and handsome."

"I'm sure I'm not the only charming and handsome Roman to chose from."

"That's not the point Titus. Please, don't insult my kindness to you by rejecting my little sister." I sighed.

"How old is she?"

"She turns seventeen soon."

"Seventeen?" Evander nodded, and I rubbed my face with my hand. "I suppose that's not so bad."

"At least think about it over dinner, Titus. I promise, Perseia would make you a wonderful wife and I promise she would cook and clean and make your life so much easier. And I would trust you to keep her safe and happy."

"I'm not even happy. How am I supposed to make someone else happy?"

"Why aren't you happy? You have a home, a job, a possible fiancé. What is there to be sad about? Especially considering the background you come from."

"I'm scared, Evander. Just because I don't live around it anymore doesn't mean it doesn't still haunt me. And all those memories refuse to leave my mind and make me depressed. I won't bring such a burden on you, but that's the truth of the matter. But please remember that I'm truly grateful to you for helping me when I needed it."

"Of course, Titus, of course. I'm almost done, so just wait for me up front and we'll leave for my house soon, okay."

"Whatever you say, Evander." Evander gave me his usual cheerful smile and got back to what he was doing. As he asked, I waited at the front while he finished up and closed shop. He was done in about five minutes.

"Ready to go, Titus?" I shrugged.

"Ready as I'll ever be, Evander." He grinned and started walking in the direction of his house with me following after him. It didn't take long to get to his home where I could smell fresh food from feet away from the house. Once we came in, we were greeted by Evander's wife, Cornelia.

"Darling, welcome home. I see you brought Titus." Evander nodded and kissed Cornelia.

"Yes, I did. Are Perseia and Persephone here yet?"

"Yes, they're here. They're outside with Evandia and Sophitia."

"Good. When will dinner be ready?"

"Very soon dear." Evander invited me inside and to take a seat with him at the table. Shortly thereafter, four women came into the house. Two I knew as Evander's daughters, Evandia and Sophitia, and the other two I barely recognized. I knew one of them was Perseia, but I couldn't remember which it was. I was barely paying attention to her when she was talking to me.

"Perseia, Persephone, this is Titus Valerius. He works for me and the butcher shop. Titus, these are my sisters, Perseia, who you've met, and Persephone, the younger of the two." They both smiled at me and I nodded at them politely. The one that had tried speaking to me the other day, Perseia, smiled wider and made conversation with me while taking a seat at the table next to me.

"So we meet again, Titus."

"It looks that way." I wouldn't deny that she was a lovely woman. She had dark hair with tan skin and brown eyes like most any Roman woman. And she was certainly one prone to smiling.

"So how was work today?"

"It was fine."

"That's good." I heard Evander clear his throat and we both looked at him.

"Perseia, please, you're being improper. Allow Titus to lead the conversation." I gave Evander a mean look before looking back at Perseia with the face I'd been previously giving her.

"So where do you and Persephone live? Is your mother still alive?"

"Yes, she is. But I live with Persephone and her husband at the moment."

"I see." I was about to leave the conversation, but I felt Evander kick me under the table, forcing me to keep it going. "So…how are you today?" I heard Evander groan to himself, but ignored him. Perseia smiled and answered me kindly.

"I'm doing well. How about you?"

"Very well, thank you." Evander, unimpressed with the conversation, interrupted.

"Titus, why don't you tell Perseia about your home." I sighed and took Evander's suggestion.

"Well, I live a few blocks from the shop. It's a small home in the complex, but I like it. It's easy to maintain and it's a roof over my head." Perseia smiled.

"It sounds lovely, Titus. I take it your wife takes good care of it." I wanted to get out of the conversation. The woman knew perfectly well that I wasn't married. I assumed she was trying to be cute. But I went along with it, not wanting to be disrespectful.

"I keep it clean. I'm not married." She looked surprised, though I knew she wasn't.

"How? You're so handsome." I shrugged.

"I never met a woman worth marrying." She made a face that looked slightly discouraged, but Evander interrupted again.

"What he means is he hasn't found the right woman, Perseia. Titus isn't much of a dating man." Perseia smiled.

"I understand."

"Truthfully, sister, I've wondered if Titus might be gay. Young boys perhaps? Or even animals?" I gave Evander a look of death, more for the last two. I wasn't attracted to men at all, but I did know that some would perceive me that way because of how emotionally detached I was. But the last two accusations were uncalled for.

"Neither of them, Evander." Evander chuckled.

"I know, Titus. I'm just teasing you." The room shared a laugh while I turned away from Evander and looked ahead. Then Perseia begged for my attention.

"So how long have you worked for my brother, Titus?"

"Six years now."

"Have you enjoyed working for him?" Perseia laughed pleasantly. "I know Evander has his moments."

"Indeed he does. But he's treated me well, so I'm happy."

"That's good to hear. Evander tells me a lot of good things about you."

"That's a pleasant surprise." Perseia giggled and then Cornelia called from the kitchen asking her and the other women for their help. When she was away from the table, Evander touched my shoulder and let go once he had my attention.

"So does my sister please you, Titus?"

"It's a bit early to say, Evander. You can't expect me to make a decision about her worthiness as a wife from one conversation."

"I can expect you to have a physical attraction opinion."

"She's lovely, Evander, if that's what you're asking." Evander smiled.

"That's what I wanted to know, Titus." Shortly after, Cornelia and the others came back to the table with plates of food in hand and placed them before me and Evander on the table. Evander tasted the food to make sure it was satisfactory and when it was, the rest took their seats, Perseia sitting next to me again.

"Thank you for inviting me to dinner, by the way, Evander."

"Think nothing of it. We've been friends far too long for me to be as rude as to not invite you to dinner."

"How long have you two been friends, if you don't mind my asking?" I was about to let Evander answer Perseia, but he was silent, waiting for me to answer.

"We first met when I was eight and Evander was twenty one."

"That's quite an age difference." Evander spoke next.

"Isn't it? But that age difference never stopped us from being close friends, right Titus?" I nodded absently, not much paying attention to the conversation.

"So how did you two become friends?" To my relief, Evander took over this part of the conversation.

"We met at the brothel my father used to go to. We were both waiting for our fathers to finish their appointments and we started talking to pass the time. Nearly every time my father was there, so was his and we became friends." I wasn't much surprised that Evander was partly lying. I didn't care, but he undoubtedly didn't want anyone to know that I used to be a slave.

"What an odd place to meet." Cornelia spoke next.

"Indeed it is. But sometimes people simply meet in the oddest of ways." They laughed together while I stayed quiet. Perseia never took her eyes off me the whole time I was there eating dinner.

When we were through with dinner, Evander insisted that I stay longer and talk with them more since I rarely ever saw more than Evander. His daughters cleaned the kitchen and dishes while we talked and joined us when they were done. I barely added a word to the conversation. I was more interested in the many cracks that Evander had in his wall that were undoubtedly the fault of the neighbors that constantly slammed against the wall. I could hear them in their fit of passion right now. I wouldn't be long before that wall came down all together.

Persephone went home early so she could meet her husband. I was guessing he'd been working late, hence why he didn't come to dinner. I didn't care enough to ask. By the end of the night when Evander finally agreed that I should go home, I walked out behind Perseia and was about to walk out when Evander grabbed a hold of my arm.

"What?"

"Do me a favor and walk Perseia home. I wouldn't want my lovely sister alone and in danger on the streets of Rome at night."

"Why can't you take her?"

"Well, if you must know, Titus, my wife is feeling rather generous tonight and I would prefer to not test how long that will last. So be a friend and walk your date home."

"Since when is she my date?"

"Since I said so. Now get going Titus. I'll see you at work tomorrow. Perseia! Wait a moment, Titus is going to walk you home!" Then Evander walked back into his house and closed the door behind him, leaving me locked outside.

"You're walking me home? That's so kind of you."

"I suppose. You know how to get there from here, right?" She looked a little guilty.

"Actually no. I thought I did, but I can't remember it. I only know the way during the day. The streets look so different at night."

I was annoyed now. Evander knew perfectly well that she didn't know the way to her own damn house. I would have a few words to say to him tomorrow for making me take her on a wild goose chase.

"Don't worry. I'm sure we can find it." She shook her head.

"I'm afraid Persephone has asked me to not come home tonight. Something her and her husband had been planning for a while."

"Then stay here."

"Evander told me to go to a friend's house. But I don't know how to get to anyone's house from here."

"You don't say." I was quickly losing my patients with the situation overall. I knew what Evander was hoping for. I could yell at him about it tomorrow. "You're welcome to stay with me for the night, if you wish. I'll take you to work with me tomorrow and Evander can walk you home." Perseia smiled and nodded.

"That's so kind of you, Titus. I would like that." That's what I was afraid of. I forced a smile and walked past her.

"Let's go then." She smiled again and came very close to me while we walked to my house. It took a few minutes to get there and when we got to my house, most of my neighbors were sound asleep.

"I love your home. It's so simple and relaxing." I shrugged.

"I've always liked it. You're welcome to the bed for tonight. I'll just sleep on the floor." While I went to my bed to get a pillow to sleep on, she walked in front of me with a smile.

"Don't be silly, Titus. It's your home, you shouldn't have to sleep on the floor. I won't mind sharing a bed with you."

I couldn't decide whether she was trying to be polite and a gracious guest or if she was sincerely that easy. That uncertainty brought about a question in my mind of whether I would take her up on her offer if that's what she was really doing. Emotionally detached or not, I was still a man with the same male needs as any other. This was how my one night stands usually happened anyway. A woman would think I was pleasing, she'd talk to me, and I'd tolerate her long enough to take her home, have my way with her, then be done with her all together. But this was Evander's little sister and I'm sure there was only so far he was willing to let this go. Though I would admit it was suspicious that he would put her in a situation where she'd have to stay at my home.

"I'll warn you, the bed's not very big. It'll be cramped." She smiled.

"That's alright." That confirmed she was looking for something more. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, I suppose.

I wasn't usually wrong. I was pretty good at understanding people and what their intentions were. But just in case I was wrong, I took it slow. First, I stood before her, standing tall above her in a manner that was unmistakable. She didn't look surprised or confused. Instead, she stood in the same manner as I did, looking up at me with challenging, but sweet brown eyes.

That was all the permission I needed. I bent my head down to kiss her and she didn't fight or argue the matter in the least. She tried wrapping her arms around my neck, but I grabbed a hold of her wrists to keep her from doing so. I didn't like it when women tried doing that. It made me feel constricted. She didn't try forcing anything else and just let me do what I wanted to do. I was a little put off that she went along with whatever I wanted to do. It made her out to be easy.

She was a beautiful girl, that much I would admit about her. So it didn't take much to get an erection. Once I had it, I turned her towards my bed, put her on all fours, and went for it. The union lasted several minutes and I was sure to keep her silent through most of the coupling. Whenever I heard a woman moan, it sent a chill down my spine and it would immediately turn me off. I tried covering her mouth with just my hand, but I could still hear her. So I ended up using the sheets and thinned it out so I could pull it into her mouth and quiet her. It worked much better. When I was done, I stepped away and got my clothes back on. She looked at me with a smile.

"You don't want to go again?"

"I have to work tomorrow and I need sleep."

"Alright then." She went to grab her clothes while I went to bed and tried to fall asleep. She got in bed with me, which didn't really surprise me. What surprised me was that she started kissing my neck and pressed her hands against my back. I turned to face her with a weird look on my face.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm helping you relax." I sighed.

"Perseia, what would help me relax is leave me be so I can fall asleep. Touching me and kissing me won't make me feel more relaxed. It'll just bug me." She looked sad.

"I thought you liked me."

"It has nothing to do with whether or not I like you. It has to do with the fact that I prefer to keep my distance and don't like to be touched more than needed. Especially after sex."

"Oh."

I was too tired to try and fix anything, so when she stopped touching me, I turned back and fell asleep. When I woke up, she was still asleep. I didn't bother waking her up. I went to another part of my one room house and washed off my face and had some bread for breakfast. While I was eating, I heard her moan while forcing herself awake. When she saw me, she smiled at me. I didn't really return the smile.

"Morning, Titus."

"Morning, Perseia."

"How did you sleep?"

"Well enough. You?"

"Wonderfully. You have a very comfortable bed." I shrugged.

"It's good enough, I suppose." She smiled more and got up from bed and walked over to me while I was eating. She had a lovely smile. But she seemed fake, like a trainer that was obsessed with breaking a horse just to prove it could be done.

"I know you're not big on being touched, but would you mind if I kissed you?" I shrugged.

"If you wish." She grinned and took a seat next to me and brought her lips to mine for a moment in a brief kiss. When she was through, she started rubbing my shoulders, which bugged me immensely. But I was too tired to get mad about it at the moment.

"So what do you think Evander will say about last night?"

"Nothing. We're not telling him about last night. I think he wanted that to happen and I won't give him the satisfaction." Perseia gave a breathy giggle.

"I know he was hoping we'd click, but I doubt he wanted us to sleep together."

"I can read the man and I know what goes on in his head. He wanted this to happen. So say nothing about it. Let him squirm."

"That's so cruel."

"Indeed it is. That's the fun in it." She giggled again.

"I never realized how wicked you are."

"You don't know the half of it, Perseia." I finished the bread and pulled off another piece and handed it to Perseia. "Eat that. Try to finish it before we get to the shop, okay." She smiled and nodded her head.

"Alright, Titus." She took the bread and followed me out the door and down the street to the shop. We got there in five minutes and she managed to finish her bread before that. When I got there, Evander had already opened shop and had plenty of things for me to do. While I worked, he walked Perseia home. When he came back, he had a huge grin on his face.

"What are you grinning about?"

"I hear it went well with Perseia." I shrugged.

"It was decent."

"It better have been more than just decent if you found it appropriate to have sex with her." I groaned.

"She told you about that I see."

"Yes, she did. She was impressed with you, so that much is good. But what's this I'm hearing about hating to be touched?"

"Evander, I don't like it when women touch me. I hate it."

"Why?"

"Why the hell do you think? I have no respect for women and whenever a woman touches me, I think of my mother and it makes me sick. So if you must understand the origin of my many deep rooted problems, there you go." Evander sighed.

"Please say that you find Perseia pleasurable." I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"She's a fine woman." Evander smiled.

"Good! Does that mean I can count on you to marry her?" I tightened my grip on the thigh bone of a pig I was butchering and ground my teeth.

"Evander, I'm not interested in getting married."

"Just think about it. See her a few more times and I'll ask you again at the end of the month. If you still don't want to marry her, fine, I'll give her to the loan shark. But it would make me really happy to give her to a friend."

"I wouldn't count on it, Evander."

"You're all I can count on. I know you're a bit of a heartless bastard, but try thinking of someone other than yourself for once and do a close friend a favor. But again, it's up to you."

"This is more than a favor, Evander. You're asking me to marry your sister, whom I've only just met yesterday."

"And fucked that same day. You better marry my sister to have the audacity to deflower her the first day you met." I almost laughed.

"Believe me, Evander, I'm not the one that deflowered her. Someone else took care of that." Evander looked angry now.

"Are you calling my sister a whore?"

"I'm saying I'm not the first man your sister's ever slept with. That doesn't mean I'm calling her a whore. I'm just pointing out the obvious."

"You have a lot of nerve, Valerius."

"I'm just telling you how it is." Evander glared at me a moment, then another question came to my mind. "Seriously, what does your sister see in me?"

"She thinks you're handsome and charming."

"Even after last night?"

"Yes, even after last night. She thinks she can, 'help you get over your demons'."

"If she could do that, I'd owe her a world of thanks."

"Yes, you would. Now get back to work. I'm pissed at you right now, so stay out of my face."

"Yes, Evander."

Evander then walked away to go do something else to help him cool off from my slap of reality. Evander didn't want me handling customers, so he worked at the front while I filled orders for cuts of meat and got others prepared for future sale. I left work at the end of the day barely saying a word to Evander. And when I got home, I was so happy to have some time to myself that I almost smiled. I didn't have much in the house to eat, but that was fine. I still had plenty of bread to eat, even if some of the loaves were a little hard.

I went to bed that night feeling relaxed. More relaxed than I've felt since Pompeia was murdered. I wonder if Perseia would pursue me if she knew I'd murdered two men and used to be a slave. It was doubtful of course. No sensible Roman woman in her right mind would seriously consider me as a potential husband. I certainly wouldn't. I went to bed that night in a good mood and woke up the next morning in an even better mood. I washed my face and ate my breakfast before walking out the door to go to work. But as I walked out, Perseia was ascending the stairs to my home with a smile.

"Perseia?" She nodded.

"Morning, Titus. How did you sleep?"

"Fine. What are you doing here? I'm on my way to work." She shook her head with a smile.

"Not today. Evander sent me over to tell you that you weren't working today. He said we should spend the day together." I held a straight face through my annoyance.

"Your brother's docking me a day's pay to go on a date?"

"Don't worry. You're still getting paid. I wouldn't let him skip a payment to you." I groaned and rubbed my face.

"Perseia, I need to go to work."

"Don't worry about it, Titus. I thought it would be nice to go to the square. We can get charms to get into the coliseum."

"Perseia, I'm not paying good money to watch men get slaughtered. If you want to go to the coliseum fine, but we aren't paying for it."

"But you need to pay to get the really good seats."

"Says who?" She was about to respond, but she didn't seem to have anything to say in response. "That's what I thought. Do you want to go or not?" She smiled.

"I do."

"Alright. Let's go then." She smiled wider and followed after me while I walked down the stairs and we made our way to the coliseum. There was a showing today, but it wouldn't start for another hour.

There were plenty of guards around, but they weren't paying close attention like they should've been, so it wasn't hard to walk right into the coliseum. We couldn't sit right at the front like what would've been better, but we could sit towards the middle and be fine.

"Do you think anyone will notice that we didn't pay?"

"They won't as long as you don't say anything." She nodded her head and looked forward. As we sat there, people started crowding in. The games didn't get permission to start until the senators and Pompei were there.

"Have you gone to these before?"

"I've never wanted to." The games started with a large fight between twelve gladiators. Six of them were dead within minutes. The others fought a little harder, but didn't last very long themselves until it was between the last two standing. In truth, I wasn't all that impressed. I'd look out my window at night and see this sort of thing happening and wouldn't have to pay a cent for it.

"Why would you not want to? It's a Roman pastime."

"Drugs, sex, and wine are also favorite Roman pastimes. That doesn't make them good. I won't argue sex is fine, but the other two aren't." She giggled.

"I take it you don't drink?"

"No, I drink. I'm just acknowledging that it's not healthy." She giggled again.

"Such a contradiction."

She finally stopped talking and turned her attention back to the show before us. The two last gladiators were still fighting and it ended with the smaller guy slitting the larger gladiator's throat. With achieving victory, the winner held up his weapons while the crowd cheered him on. After the gladiator got out of the ring, it was filled with water to reenact a famous battle. I didn't hear what battle it was. I was dozing in and out through most of the show. When it was finally over after five full hours, I was eager to get out and was walking really fast with Perseia trying to jog to keep up. Once we were outside, Perseia caught up to me and grabbed a hold of my arm.

"So did you enjoy it?"

"I could watch the same thing by staying up late and looking out my window."

"Not really. What's outside your window are mobs. The coliseum is history."

"It's killing people for my entertainment. It doesn't matter where it happens, it's still essentially the same thing." She smiled.

"I take it this sort of thing isn't what interests you?"

"Not really."

"What does interest you?" I shrugged.

"I like carving figures from wood. And I like playing music and reading."

"What about when you're in a group?"

"I can't say. I don't like being around people, so I don't have a favorite group activity."

"Why do you hate being around people?" I was hesitant to ask. But eventually, I decided to just avoid the question.

"Several reasons."

I didn't allow her to ask for me to elaborate. I changed the subject and asked her to show me how to get her home. She seemed a little reluctant, but she told me the way. When I got her home, she stole a kiss from me before going back into her house allowing me to go back home. When I got back, I went straight to bed, not really having much of an appetite. The next morning, I was relieved to be able to go to work without encountering an unexpected date. Evander, who was at the front, smiled and waved for me to come in and walked me to the back to talk.

"So how did the date go?" I sighed.

"You're really not going to let up on this are you?"

"Not in a million years." I sighed and rubbed my face. "So does this mean you've thought about my offer?"

"Fine. I'll do you a favor and marry Perseia. But don't expect much from the relationship."

"I'm asking you to marry her because I know she'd be better off with you than with the alternative. All I ask is that you treat her well and we'll be fine."

"I guess I'm marrying Perseia then." Evander grinned.

"And as her brother, I give you permission to marry her." Thankfully, Evander didn't wait to hear me say anything. He walked out to the front to leave me to work.

I wasn't sure what to feel. I'd never really felt a need for a wife. I was able to take care of myself, I didn't want kids, and I was getting sex pretty easily from any woman who hit on me if I wanted it. I preferred being alone and could never stand to be within another person's company for extended periods of time. And more so, I didn't love Perseia. I wasn't even sure if I liked her, let alone loved her. I didn't even like women. They were sexually appealing, but that was it for me. While I took a break to eat some bread and cooked pig for lunch, Evander walked over to me with a big smile.

"What's got you so happy?"

"I went to Perseia to give her the good news." Great.

"And what did she say?"

"She would love to marry you, Titus. And man as handsome and sweet as you would make a great husband." I held back a surprised expression. When was I ever sweet? I was barely listening to her or anything else while we were together. And when we slept together, I was done within twenty minutes and didn't try to make it last.

"That's good news, I guess."

"It's very good news. So when's the wedding."

"Gods, Evander, I don't fucking know."

"Titus, at least pretend you're thrilled to marry Perseia. Maybe not in front of me because I know you, but at least in front of Perseia."

"Exactly, Evander, you know me. You know I'm not exactly the most caring person in the world." Evander huffed a laugh.

"Few know better than me. But Perseia sees something in you and that's all that matters. And since it gets me out of having to give her to Piutus, I'm giddy with excitement."

"Who?"

"Piutus. He's the mobster I told you was the alternative." I sighed.

"I see."

"So you're doing me a grand favor."

"You've mentioned that."

"So at least tell me this. Would you rather have the wedding sooner or later?" I sighed.

"Sooner." I wasn't looking forward to any of this. I figured the sooner I got it over with, the happier I would be, figuratively speaking.

"Great idea, Titus. I'll stop by my sister's home before going back to mine and give her the good news. We'll have a big wedding too."

"No we won't. Family only. Honestly, I'd prefer they weren't there either."

"Alright, fine, Titus. Just family."

"And I mean close family. If you have to send a messenger to invite them or if they're a however many-th cousin or uncle, don't bother inviting them."

"Yes, Titus, I get it. Keep in mind I'm the one paying for the ceremony."

"I don't care who's paying for it. I want it to stay small."

"I get it, Titus, I'll keep it small."

"The smaller the better."

Evander sighed, but nodded and assured me it would be, before going back to the front and leaving me to keep working. I tried not to think about it for the rest of the day. It was only making me feel sick. I wonder if Evander knew I had no intention of giving Perseia a child, but I thought it best to avoid talking about it. When my work day was over, I avoided talking to Evander and ran home. That's what I did for most of the week. I avoided talking to anyone about it and just wanted to be alone. But at the end of that week, Evander caught me and made me sit and talk to him.

"Alright, Titus, here's the plan. The wedding will be tomorrow and it'll be at sundown at the temple of Venus."

"How can you afford to have our ceremony at the temple of Venus?"

"Connections, my friend. And Perseia wanted it. And what she wants for her wedding, I'll give her." I sighed.

"You're the one paying for it."

"Indeed. So tomorrow, I want you to come to my home after you've had lunch and we'll get you ready and go to the temple."

"Why do I need to start so soon?"

"I want to make sure everything goes perfectly. That means taking as much time to make you perfect as possible."

"I don't even have anything appropriate to wear."

"Worry not. You can wear my outfit from my wedding. I was much slimmer then than I am now, so don't make a comment of how it won't fit." I shrugged.

"I wasn't going to. I remember what you looked like when you got married."

"You better. I was damn good looking."

"Yes, Evander." He chuckled.

"Those were the days. But back to the wedding. Perseia is very excited about the ceremony, so pretend you are too."

"Whatever, Evander. Can I go home now?"

"Yes, you can go now. But you better be at my house on time."

"I will Evander, don't worry about it."

"Don't let me down, Titus."

I didn't respond since I was walking out of the shop while he was talking to me. I didn't go straight home this time. I went to the bar that was a few blocks away from my house and started drinking wine. I picked a spot that was comparatively quieter than most of the bar and didn't make eye contact with anyone, hoping no one would bother me. I didn't finally leave the bar until I was nearly too drunk to walk. I couldn't remember a thing of what happened that night. I woke up in my bed alone, so I can't imagine anything too bad happened. But I did wake up with a hangover that would bring down a bull. I saw the sun shining through the shutters of my winders, and I walked to the door so I could go outside and see what time of day it was.

When I saw the sun, I groaned in annoyance. I was late and I knew it. Evander would never shut up about it for the whole day. This migraine I had at the moment wasn't going to help me at all either. Hoping it would help me feel better, I ate a small piece of bread before walking out of my house and making my way to Evander's house. When I got there, Cornelia opened the door and let me in. I barely entered before Evander was walking to me with a scowl.

"Damn it, Titus, I told you to be here by midday."

"I drank too much last night and I overslept. Please keep your voice down, Evander, I have a hangover."

"Well that's your own damn fault, now isn't it? Drinking the night before your wedding, honestly Titus, have you no pride?"

"I grew up a hooker's son, Evander. Of course I don't have any pride." Evander groaned and rubbed his face.

"I thought the years of freedom would help you get over that."

"It's a traumatic childhood, Evander. I'll never be rid of it no matter how much I want to. Let's just get me dressed and get this over with." Cornelia walked to Evander and held his arm to command more of his attention.

"Evander, maybe this isn't a good idea after all." Evander looked at her strangely.

"What would make you say that?"

"He doesn't love Perseia. You know this as much as he does. Why make Perseia marry a man who doesn't love her?"

"Perseia wants him, and I won't deny her that." Then he looked at me. "And obviously neither would you."

"You didn't give me much option to go otherwise, Evander. Besides, a wife might do me some good." Cornelia still looked skeptical, but she didn't say anything. I was glad. I didn't want to defend doing something I wasn't even willing to do in the first place.

"Well, enough talk. We need to get you ready for the wedding. It's the happiest day of your life after all."

Not true at all. The happiest day of my life was the day I saw my own mother get shocked to death. But I wasn't about to say that. Evander's two girls were within ear shot and they didn't need to hear that. Evander was the only one who knew about that and I wanted to keep it that way.

It didn't take long for me to get dressed. Evander gave me the robes he'd worn at his wedding and they fit decently enough. I ended up spending most of the time before the ceremony sitting at the dining table examining every imperfection in the wood of the table. When it was time to go, I walked with them all to the temple of Venus and we waited for the ceremony to start.

I was a simple ceremony, nothing high class or really elegant. It was just a marriage ceremony that was over in twenty minutes. After the ceremony was over, Evander helped Perseia move her things from Persephone's home to mine. When everything was there, Evander winked at me and left us alone in my home. There was a long silence between me and Perseia while she unpacked her things. I didn't feel the need to talk and went straight to bed. She came to bed with me when she was done and cuddled up to me, making me feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Why so distant, Titus? It's our wedding night?" I was always distant. How had she not noticed this by now?

"I'm usually miles away naturally." She smiled and kept asking for my attention.

"I'll take you miles away." She laughed at her joke, but I didn't find it funny. But I understood where she was going and took advantage of the situation.

That night ended up being the same as the last time we'd slept together. I did what I wanted to do and was done with her after that. She tried cuddling to me, but I pushed her away so I could sleep. The next day at work, Evander asked me how I liked being a married man. I didn't want to tell him how I honestly felt, so I just looked at him the way I normally did and just told him it was pleasant. Then I went to the back to work, taking out any frustration on a new piece of pig.


	10. The Death of Caesar

**The Death of Caesar**

**Rome, 44 b.c.**

The day Perseia and I got married, I wasn't thrilled and I knew I wasn't really hiding. Perseia never said a word about it, and I never asked why. I didn't really care. Our wedding night was just as void of any excitement. We had sex, of course, but it was just sex, nothing really special about it. The next day, everything went back to the way it normally did, except I had a wife now.

I won't pretend that it wasn't helpful to have her around. She handled everything with regards to the house and dinner, so it gave me less to worry about when I got home from work. What made the marriage a hassle was the fact that she wanted kids. I didn't want any kids. I hated kids. They were rude, ungrateful, parasitic little bastards that took and took and took without giving anything in return. I didn't see what gratification there could be in raising a child. It had become our morning routine to talk about it and I didn't take it for very long.

"Titus."

"What, Perseia?" She was silent a moment before walked over to the table and sitting next to me, putting a glass of wine in front of me, hoping to get me in a more agreeable mood.

"I was thinking.."

"Perseia, you know the answer."

"Why can't we have children? It's not like we're not capable."

"That's not the issue as I've told you many times before. The issue is that I don't want kids. End of story."

"I know you don't like most kids, but maybe you would like our kids."

"No, I wouldn't Perseia. I would hate them even more because they'd be my problem. I don't want to deal with more mouths to feed."

"Titus, how do you expect your name to go on without children?"

"When have I ever given off the impression that I care about something as trivial as that?"

"It isn't trivial, Titus."

"Perseia, stop bringing this up. You bring this up every morning and I'm sick of it. I already have a hard enough day without your unrelenting desire to have kids."

"What hard day? You work for my brother."

"It's a long and hard day and I have to deal with people that bitch because their cut of meat still has a little fat on it and they want a piece of meat de-boned when it would damage the meat. I deal with a lot of shit through the day, so don't tell me I slack off, Perseia."

"I never said you slack off. I'm saying that my brother doesn't work you that hard, especially compared to the other people that work for him."

"Only one other person works there and he's a delivery boy."

"I know that." I sighed and gulped the glass of wine she had given me and stood up to leave. "Where are you going?"

"Work. Where else would I be going?

"Titus, please, can we at least talk about this? You can blame me for being late to work."

"Perseia, there's nothing to talk about. You know my answer and I'm not going to change it. You know I'm not going to change it."

I didn't give her a chance to talk anymore. I walked out of the house and down the stairs and made my way to work. It wasn't until I'd gotten married that I actually looked forward to going to work. It was the only time I got any real peace and quiet anymore. Or it was until Perseia told Evander what was going on and Evander got on my case about having kids. So before long, I had to go to a bar ad come home late if I wanted some peace. And it didn't count for much since the quiet I desired was overshadowed by drunken fights and arguments. But no matter what, I never let up.

I think Perseia would occasionally try to trick me into getting her pregnant, and I would let her think it was working until the last minute. The sex wasn't so phenomenal that I couldn't keep my wits about me during. And after fourteen years of no luck and me refusing to have children, she eventually gave up on trying to convince me. But that also led to her resenting me. It truth, I was surprised that the resentment didn't come sooner. But worse was she still tried to talk to me, and she wasn't very good at overcoming awkwardness.

I had just gotten home and we were sitting together at the table eating our dinner. I was never the one to start a conversation, so we usually ate dinner in morbid silence. It never bothered me much, but Perseia despised silence. It made her uncomfortable. So whenever she had a chance, she would cut the silence with meaningless gossip or talk about her day. Either way, I hardly paid any attention.

"I went to the temple today."

"That's nice." She was silent again, then continued on.

"The temple has a new priest. He's very young, maybe in his thirties. But I think he'll be a good priest."

"Good for him, I suppose." Silence again, then she continued.

"How was your day?"

"Decent."

"Anything interesting happen?"

"Nothing in particular." She nodded and sighed a little before turning her attention back to her dinner. When I was done eating, I took the dishes to the spot where she cleaned them, then poured myself a glass of wine. "I'll leave money for you in the morning."

"What for?"

"We're out of wine." I saw Perseia roll her eyes, but I ignored it.

"You know, Titus, we could buy a slave with all the money we would save if you quit drinking."

"There's a lot of could of's in this world. Why focus on one?"

"Why do you insist on mocking me?"

"If it makes you feel better, Perseia, I mock everyone, even Evander. The only reason we're friends is because he thinks it's funny."

"I wouldn't say that, Titus. There's only so long he'll tolerate it." I shrugged.

"He's tolerated it for 24 years, why would he stop now?"

"That's not the point, Titus. Even Evander has his limits on patients."

"I know. I've seen those limits. And let me be honest, I'm not impressed."

"Damn it, Titus, could you take me seriously for once in our marriage?"

"I am taking you seriously."

"No you're not, Titus. I've known you long enough to know the difference between you listening and not. And right now, you're not."

"I'm throwing you a bone, Perseia. It's what I do." Perseia started glaring at me and started working on the dishes to make herself feel better.

"You know what, Titus, you can buy the wine yourself tomorrow, because I'm not doing you any favors."

"It's not a favor, it's an errand, something I expect you to do."

"Well, do it yourself. It's your money, you use it to buy your liquor."

"Exactly, Perseia. It's my money, that pays for my house and my food, my clothes including the ones you wear and if I, the owner, tell you to do something I expect you to do it without argument."

"I'm your wife, Titus, not a slave."

"Would you rather I treat you like a slave? I don't hit you, Perseia. Not many housewives can say that. Even Evander hits his wife from time to time."

"He hit Cornelia once."

"Five times for your information. All of which happened because she back talked him. You're lucky I'm calm mannered enough not to hit you."

"You're not calm mannered, Titus, you're a heartless bastard. You've never shown me an ounce of love in all the years we've been married. I've shown you all the love in the world and even now it's all I give you."

"You give me bitching and complaining, Perseia. If that's love, then it would be less of a thorn of my side to be without it."

"Is that what I am to you, Titus?! A thorn in your side?!"

"You often are, Perseia." She was silent again. She looked like she was trying not to cry. It lasted a few seconds before she couldn't hold the tears back anymore and she feel to her knees crying. I left her there to cry and started walking to the door. When she saw me, she stood up again.

"Where are you going?"

"To the bar. I'd rather listen to drunkards than listen to your crying. Don't wait up for me."

That said, I walked out of the house and walked down the stairs until I reached the streets below and turned to walk to the bar. When I got there, most of the people who came earlier were passed out or somewhere in the building fucking one of the waitresses. Any of the men that were fighting were sent outside, so it wasn't too horribly loud in the bar when I got there.

I stayed there a few hours nursing a bottle of wine. I never drank more than a bottle. It wasn't enough to make me drunk, but it was enough to make me feel better and a little less stressed. I stayed in my usual corner of the bar and kept to myself, never talking to a soul. The waitresses had nicknamed me the corner troll, though they always said the nickname with a disturbing giggle and smile. Some had made a habit of touching my shoulder while taking my order and it bothered the hell out of me.

A few hours later, I left the bar feeling marginally light headed, but that was nothing new. The traffic had been reduced to drinkers or men visiting the whore house. Few people except for them are out at this hour. But the amount of people that were out at night increased when Caesar and his soldiers returned to Rome permanently. Now soldiers were out an about all the time with nothing better to do than drink themselves silly. I almost pitied them for their boredom.

While I was walking down the street making my way home, I saw a man in long robes walking down the street with long black hair and pasty skin. I was surprised to see an aristocrat out so late, and especially on his own. Patricians hardly ever went out on their own. Rome was a dangerous city at night. I avoided making eye contact with him and kept walking on. But as I was walking, the man bumped into me and grabbed my hand for just a second and was walking away as if nothing had happened.

I watched that man walk away, debating whether or not I should confront him. I probably shouldn't. He looked sober and in my state, I was in no position to get into an altercation and win. So I let it go and started walking back to the house ignoring the Patrician entirely. In light of recent events, I was sure to stop by a store and buy a few bottles of wine and some candles. When I got home, Perseia was lying in bed fast asleep. The candles were all still on and almost completely used up. I rolled my eyes and put all the things on the table, blew out the candles, then went to bed.

When I woke up the next morning, Perseia was already awake and was cleaning the table and countertops. I held back any annoyance. She was making a point to show she was mad, but I didn't have time to play around for today. I checked the shelves and saw the wine I'd bought yesterday, so that much was a relief. It wouldn't have surprised me if she'd done something with them.

"I'm bringing something from work today. So don't make dinner until I get home." Perseia looked at me.

"What are you bringing home?"

"What does it matter?" Perseia looked at me a moment then looked like she was about to cry. I was about to walk out of the house before she walked over to me and hugged me. She was sobbing while she spoke.

"I don't want us to fight."

"Stop arguing with me all the time and we won't."

"I'm not trying to argue with you, Titus. You just hurt me all the time."

"You know what I'm like, Perseia."

"Change. Please. Just change for me." I didn't say anything to her. I simply pushed her away from me and turned to leave the house.

I kept to myself for most of the work day as I usually did. It was much easier to keep to myself since Evander wasn't here at the moment. He and his family were somewhere south looking at some farmland that he'd recently purchased. He was planning to raise and slaughter his own livestock to increase his profits. He had spent hours telling me how it would work and how great it would be and that me and Perseia would be welcome to go there any time we wanted. Evander didn't know much about mine and Perseia's marriage. Perseia never mentioned any of the bad, and I didn't bring it up period, so Evander assumed we were happy.

He left me in charge of the shop while he was gone and seeing as the only other employee was a delivery boy, there wasn't much to manage. I put out clay plaques that gave him his delivery instructions for the day and that was that. It was late when I finally got done. But when I was, I took the leg of lamb that I wanted to take home and left the shop. When I got home, I looked upwards at the windows and noticed they were off. That was odd. Normally, Perseia was waiting for me.

I walked up the stairs slowly, a little suspicious of what might happen. I held the leg of lamb up defensively so I could attack if there was an intruder in the house. There was plenty of bone left with the meat, so it was sure to do some damage. When I got close to the door of the house, I listened for a moment to see if I could hear something. I couldn't hear a thing. I couldn't hear talking, breathing, even nervous movement. There was nothing. Still remaining cautious, I poked at the door with my toe looking forward into the dark house.

I walked in slowly, looking around and relying on the moonlight shining in to be my source of light. While I was entering the house, I noticed that the room smelled extremely sweet. I had never smelled it before and it was oddly comforting, but I knew better than that. I stopped walking when the candles all seemed to light one by one on their own. When the candles were lit, I saw a man holding a lighting wick in his hand. He looked so familiar…..the Patrician. He smiled and walked a little closer.

"Titus Valerius." I took a step back and felt something soft touch the back of my foot. I glanced and saw Perseia covered in blood on the ground. I only took a moment to look before I turned back to the Patrician.

"How do you know my name?" He chuckled.

"You needn't fear me, I'm no enemy to you."

"You've broken into my home. Of course you're an enemy to me." He chuckled again, taking a moment. "What's so funny?"

"I think you know what I find so funny. You've only announced breaking and entering as my crime. You didn't even hint at murder." I ignored him and asked more questions.

"Who the hell are you and what do you want?" He smiled a moment and sighed.

"Your mind is very one tracked I see. If you weren't so smart, I wouldn't bother with you."

"You're not answering my question."

"Be calm, Titus, there's no need to make a fuss. I'm Aro, coven leader of the Volturi. I wish to make you a part of our coven."

"Why? We've never met before." Aro nodded.

"Not formally. But we met on the streets the night before. When we bumped into each other, I heard all that your mind had to offer. I've seen all the thoughts that ran through your head, I know the genius you're capable of and what you've accomplished all on your own. Imagine the improvement we would see in you once immortal." I was very confused. I took another step back, never taking down the leg of lamb.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He chuckled again.

"I'm a vampire, Titus. I have the gift to read minds of the people I touch. It's a very useful gift, especially since it brought me to someone as extraordinary as yourself. I know a gifted individual when I see one."

"A vampire?" He nodded with a smile. "Get out of my house and no one will get hurt." He chuckled again.

"Be assured, Titus, it's not me that should be frightened. It is you." I stayed on guard, but then he seemingly disappeared. I didn't even have time to be surprised before I felt a sharp pain in my neck.

I hit Aro with the lamb and he released me, throwing me to the ground where I hit the back of my head. I nearly lost consciousness, but I forced myself to stay alert. I got back on my feet and he stood there with a grin on his face. I backed away stayed on guard, but as I was backing away, the pain in my neck started spreading. At first, it was just a warm feeling that I could live with, but eventually it started getting unbearably hot. I lost footing and fell to the floor when Aro laughed.

"I see it's working." Then he looked at Perseia's corps and lifted her up to his lips. He held her to his lips for a few seconds, then threw her across the room and looked at me. "I'll be back for you in a few days. I'd rather not wait around for you to change. Until then, Titus, please keep the noise at a minimal."

He smiled and walked out of my house, leaving me on the floor in pain. The burn was spreading to every part on my body and I couldn't seem to think about anything but the pain. I would've gladly given anything to make the pain stop. The pain became so great that I had forced my eyes shut and was desperately trying to find something to bite down on. All I could do was crawl, but before long, I couldn't even do that.

I fought the urge to scream or yell for help. Not because Aro had instructed me to, but because I knew there was no one that could help me. Before long, I couldn't think at all. I couldn't remember anything. I didn't care to. All I thought about was the pain from the burn as well as the pain I was feeling in my head, though that pain was abysmal compared to the burn. I couldn't think anymore and any concept of time and sound and thought left me. It was as if I was asleep, but well aware that I was in the burning pits of the underworld.

I had been in pain for an immeasurable amount of time, but the pain was receding. I was beginning to lose the pain in my fingers and toes. I wasn't sure how long ago it was, but I had discovered I could hear everything. My world had been nothing but pain for however long it was, only for me to suddenly hear everything for miles. I could now hear horses coming through gates. I could hear men and women making purchases and talking politics. The news of the day was Julius Caesar. He'd been murdered from the sound of things.

I could even smell everything now. I could smell sweet smells and foul smells all at the same time, and I loved it. I could even smell the small dusts that showed themselves in the light. I could smell things that were close to me and I could smell things from a mile away. It was almost blissful to be able to smell so many things.

Eventually, the pain left my forearms and calves. The mid sections of my body continued to burn. I waited for the pain to go away completely, not sure how long I'd been waiting. Eventually, the pain was beginning to center in my heart, which was beating furiously. I could hear that too. I feared anyone could. It was loud and exuberant. Impossible not to hear.

Within moments of the pain centering my heart, it became impossibly hotter, more painful. I don't know how I didn't scream from the pain. But then, suddenly, my heart made one last sound then went silent and the pain was completely gone. I breathed in relief and was delighted by the experience. I tasted everything. There was sun, lavender, silks and fruits engulfing my palette. Everything in the world that could be tasted blessed my mouth.

I opened my eyes and saw a ceiling. Then I lifted myself up, and was taken aback by how quickly that all happened. I looked around the room I was in. It was small. There was a bed at my left indicating a bedroom. It had curtains available for privacy. Then there was a distance between that and the table almost in the middle of the large room.

I also saw a woman at the far right of that room. She looked beaten and her wrists were covered in blood. I took in a delicious breath and felt my throat burn. I followed the smell. It led me to the dead woman in the corner of the large, one room house. My throat burned like I was drinking fire. I walked ever closer to the dead body and followed the smell until I found out what it was from. It was her blood.

This took me by surprise. I forced myself to back away from her, not sure what was going on. I looked to my right and looked into a mirror that was on the wall. What I saw could be no less than a god. The man in the mirror had olive skin that was still pale looking. His hair was a dark, dark brown and his face was squared and chiseled as if made by a master craftsman. He looked like he could be a man in his early thirties who the years have been very kind to. What took me by surprise were his eyes. They were scarlet red and monstrous.

"Perseia!" I looked in the direction of the sound. I'd heard so many footsteps outside that I hadn't been paying them any mind. Whoever it was began coming closer to the one room house. I ran in the back so whoever it was wouldn't see me.

I hid in a recession in the wall and waited. She reached the house within seconds of me hiding. It surprised me how quickly I reached the recession since it was on the other side of the one room house.

"Perseia, are you in?!" After that, the person calling the name walked into the house. She took a brief look around the house before she saw the body of the woman drenched in blood on the floor. "PERSEIA!!"

She ran the short distance to the body and began to examine her, turning her over and trying to look at her face. The burn in my throat became impossibly worse when I breathed in the air that came in with her. And the burn continued after the doors had shut. The burn was too painful. My instincts were telling me to follow the smell and to drink. I walked out of the recession in the wall and began walking to her. I could hear my feet touching the ground, but evidently, she couldn't. Finally, she looked around at me and her eyes became shocked, then angry and overflowing with tears.

"You killed her. You monster, you killed her!" I was taken by surprise by her reaction, but I ignored it for now. The scent of what would relieve the burn in my throat was coming from her. I walked closer and she started backing away from me. "What are you doing?"

I ignored her question. I kept moving closer to her. Then, a wind blew from outside that lifted the cloth that was over the windows. When they lifted, a beam of light came into the room. I saw something shinning and noticed from the corner of my eye that it was my skin. The woman in front of me gasped and practically ran backwards away from me and into a wall. Now her face was free of any anger or sadness. Now, all I saw was fear. She looked at my eyes, and she looked like she might have been frozen solid if it weren't for her heart beating and her heavy breathing.

"What happened to you?" I stopped when I heard that question. I didn't know what had happened. I couldn't remember anything. I didn't even remember what my name was. But at the moment, I really didn't care. The burn was too painful to bear. She made a piercing scream when I threw myself at the source of the delicious scent that she had. I bit into her neck and tasted something sweet and delicious, so I began to drink.

It was blood, I was sure. But it didn't taste or smell like what I thought blood smelled and tasted like. This was sweet and savory and refreshing. It was like eating an excellent, high quality meal, but in a warm liquid form. Her scream became gargled after a minute and then finally was no more. I kept drinking and drinking until there was nothing left for me to take. I tossed her body to the ground and sighed blissfully. The burn in my throat was still there, but it was far less horrific.

I heard more footsteps coming my way. They were probably planning to see who screamed and why. I went back to the recession in the wall that I had taken before and waited. When three men forced their way into the house, their eyes bugged from the sight of two dead women lying motionless and drained on the floor. The burn was there again. I didn't give them a chance to scream. I broke all their necks and began drinking their blood. By the time I was finished with the third man, the burn in my throat was almost completely gone. I could hardly notice it anymore, even with the extra blood that was surrounding me. My clothes were covered in my blood and the blood of my four victims.

I waited in the house until nightfall before I started wondering around. I looked through the house to find a change of clothes that wouldn't draw attention to myself when I went outside. I walked out of the one room house and saw that I was in a housing area. There weren't a lot of people left outside. Most of whom had gone to bed for the night. I could hear everything they were doing. I heard some people fighting over money. I heard children and parents sleeping soundly. I even heard people in a house below me sharing the last few minutes of a sexual encounter.

I walked down the stairs of the building and onto the streets of the city. I looked at my surroundings for anything that might remind me of anything at all. There were people outside. Late night goers doing whatever it is they did. I past a man that smelled heavily of a harsh, deplorable smelling chemical and another man that wore a sweeter smell that was just as unappealing.

"Titus, my good friend." I looked ahead towards where I heard the voice coming from. A larger man approached me. He looked to be in his early forties and was very heavy set. His clothes were no better than mine.

"Hello." I couldn't believe the voice that came from my mouth. I didn't remember what I'd sounded like before, but it wasn't this. Not this musical bass sound that made even me melt. This was the voice of a god. The man continued to walk closer to me with a smile. But when he was right in front of me, that smile faded into envy, confusion, and fear. He licked his lips once out of nervousness and breathed heavily. His scent wasn't a favorable taste, so I didn't bother trying anything. He finally spoke when he'd looked his fill.

"Titus…….you look different." I didn't let my expression change from my polite expression.

"What makes you say that?" He looked at his feet.

"Well……..you're skin suddenly looks paler………..and your voice sounds different. And forgive my saying but, you look……beautiful." I was surprised by his choice of words, but still didn't change my expression. I even let myself smile a little.

"How kind of you to say." He laughed nervously and kept looking at his feet.

"Well you know me. Always noticing every….." His face had been gradually lifting from looking at the ground. He had finally looked into my eyes. "Sweet Jupiter. Your eyes…………they're……..they're red." I smiled at him. I wasn't sure what my smile was portraying, but whatever it was, it made him take a step backwards.

"What's your name friend?" He looked surprised, but quietly gave me an answer.

"It's me…..Evander….I've been your friend for years. We grew up together." I didn't change the look on my face.

"Then you would know a lot about me wouldn't you?" He remained very confused, but answered my questions.

"Yes, I suppose I would. Why?"

"Good. Then answer me these questions. What is my name?" Evander remained confused and started fidgeting by looking around and blinking more.

"Titus, what on earth are you talking about?"

"Answer my question, Evander." He took another timid step back at the harshness of my tone and yet the remaining calmness in my face. Finally, he answered me.

"Titus Valerius." His heartbeat was speeding up as he spoke.

"Good. Now, what is the name of the tan, black haired woman that lived at my house?" Now he looked almost appalled.

"That was Perseia. My sister. Your wife." I nodded in acknowledgement. That explained a lot.

"And the other tan woman that looks a little like Perseia?" His face changed from appalled to outrage.

"Persephone. My youngest sister." I grinned wider. "Titus, why are you asking me all these questions? What is going on?" I closed my eyes and took in another deep breath. His scent was still rather unappealing, so I decided to end the encounter.

"You might want to go to my house, Evander. I think something happened." He looked confused and angry all at once.

"What do you mean something happened?" I grinned from ear to ear and almost laughed. I refrained from doing so. Evander looked as if he would soon have a panic attack, but he also looked dazzled.

"Let's just say that, whatever happened, I don't think I'm human anymore." Evander just stared in horror as I walked past him and made my way down the long streets. I heard him calling for me to explain what I meant, but I ignored him.

I walked along the streets keeping to myself. I noticed several women and men stopping to admire my beauty. One woman even stopped me on the streets for my attention and started talking to me. I assumed the woman was a whore. She smelled of so many scents that weren't hers. Under all those heavy scents, though, she smelled delicious. She kept smiling at me even when she looked into my eyes. I assumed that my eyes looked black to her because of the lack of lighting.

"So what do you say? Will you keep me company?" She smiled flirtatiously and moved sensually as she spoke. The burn wasn't unmanageable, but I wanted her blood. It smelled promisingly sweet. I nodded my head at her with a half smile.

"Of course. Whatever you like." She smiled triumphantly and took my hand. She looked taken back when she touched me, but she didn't let shock stay on her face for long. She laughed nervously, then started trying to pull me in.

"This way, please." She pulled me into the small building and took me to a room that pleased her. I heard moans and screams of pleasure coming from all around me. I smirked. No one would think it strange if she screamed. When she took me into the room, she closed the door behind her and walked back in front of me with a serious, but flirtatious look on her face. "Before we start, handsome, I need you to pay." I chuckled. I should have figured I suppose. I wasn't even planning to sleep with her.

"How much are you demanding?" She smiled lightly at the seductive tone of my voice.

"300 Gerri." I couldn't contain a laugh.

"A bit pricy for someone of your quality, wouldn't you say?" Her face became offended.

"Hardly. If you can't pay the price, than leave now." My smile was humored. I closed the distance between us until I was right in front of her. She didn't even try to fight me away. She seemed too much in awe.

"I think it best that I just take what I came here for." She looked at me dazzled and confused.

"What are you talking about?" I gave her one last charming smile before answering her question.

In less than even an instant, my mouth was on her neck and I bit. She was screaming, then the scream was muffled from the blood in her throat. Eventually she was only twitching, then she wasn't moving at all. I threw her body at the floor and sighed. I walked out of the room and briefly looked around for anyone. When there was no one, I walked out and down the hall. I passed a woman sitting at a little wooden desk that demanded my attention.

"Excuse me, sir, but you don't leave until you pay." I looked at her with a charming smile. Her face became almost shy.

"Don't worry. The woman that took care of me has the money. She'll give it to you." With that, I walked out of the building and walked down the street in the direction I heard the gates of the city.

I had pretty much figured out what I was. Stregoni Benifici they were often called. The name Lamia also came to my mind. A blood drinker that had exceptional beauty. I had seen the looks people on the street had given me. They were attracted to me. But they were supposed to be on the side of good. Blessed by the gods. I couldn't help but laugh at how false that was. It took me no time to find the gates I was searching for. I climbed the wall until I was at the top. I looked around for something that might cause concern, but I didn't find anything.

"Hey you!" I looked at who called to me. It looked to be a soldier in a lookout point at the top of the wall. "What are you doing?" I smiled charmingly. His face became dazzled.

"I was just leaving." I didn't give him a chance to say anything more. I jumped off of the wall and onto the other side. Then I ran into the woods that surrounded the area and never looked back.


	11. Felix: Fire

**Fire**

**59 B.C. Rome**

It was really sunny outside and midsummer. So it was really hot outside. Mother was inside cleaning the house while father was at work. Lia and I were outside playing with the neighbor kids and their slave. The slave was hiding and we were trying to find him. Lia and the other children were more into the game that I was. At fourteen, I was far too old for games like this. But if it made Lia happy, that was good enough for me.

Lia was my little sister, six years younger than me. She relied on me the way she would if our parents were more attentive. I would never say that our parents didn't love us, because that wasn't the case. They were both simply very reserved. Even with each other, they weren't people that showed emotion often and father simply wasn't that good with children. He did try, but it took a great deal of effort from him and he was easily frustrated when something he planned didn't end up quite right. I like to think that once I'm older, father and I will be able to bond a little more than we did when I was a kid. And it did improve as I got older.

"Felix, look behind those barrels over there." I looked in the direction that Lia pointed out to me and I chuckled and shook my head.

"We already looked there, Lia." Lia crossed her arms at me and pouted.

"Well, look again, if you please." I laughed again at Lia's attempt at being polite while ordering me around. I did as she said and looked behind the barrels. As was the case last time, no one was there. But I noticed there was someone breathing. I listened to it a moment until I found the barrel that was loudest. I lifted up the lid, and there was the slave in question.

"Lia!" I looked at her and waited until she was looking at me. "I found him. He was in one of the barrels." Lia smiled and ran over to where I was standing. Then she tagged the little boy, and he ended up being the one it.

He sat in the barrel while I counted in my head while the other kids took the opportunity to hide. I'd made the mistake of counting in front of him once and his owner yelled at me for it. One thing learned by a slave was one too many, as she'd put it. So I never counted in front of the slaves again. When Lia and the other kids were hidden, I told the little boy to start looking. He jumped out and started looking around for the other kids. I have to say, as far as slaves go, he was treated really well. His owner made sure he ate three meals a day and she never yelled at him. He would be mistaken for a member of the family were it not for his inability to read and write and count.

He actually had a heavy accent from the land he'd been retrieved from. All we knew about where he was from was that his homeland has four seasons. Obviously somewhere up north. Here in Rome, we got two seasons at best. It was either always sunny and dry hot, or really rainy and wet hot. It wasn't nearly as bad as Sicily, though. There, it was humid, all day, every day, without stop. We'd been there to visit family and that was enough to know I never wanted to go to that island again.

While all the kids kept playing, I stood outside with them and supervised what they did. While I was in the square between the apartments, I smelled something good coming from our house. If there was one thing mother could do, it was cook. I called to Lia to come upstairs with me, but she didn't end up needing me to. She smelled mother's cooking before I did and was already on the stairs. Lia and I made our way up the stairs together and got inside, seeing mother at the fire stove cooking. She looked over her shoulder at us.

"You know the rules, you two. No food until your father gets home." Lia walked a little closer to the table.

"When will father get home?"

"Same time he always does. Around sunset." Lia looked out the window and smiled. It was starting to look like a sunset. That was a good indication father would be home from work soon. "By the way, Felix. Your farther said he wanted to talk to you about something."

"Did he say what?" Mother nodded.

"Something to do with you getting a job. 'You've been a kid long enough. It's time you learned some responsibilities as a man'." Lia looked at me sad.

"But mother, who will play with me through the day when Felix is gone?"

"The neighbor children. You play with them every day, don't you?" Lia nodded, but still looked sad.

"I do, but I like it better when I play with Felix."

"You and Felix can still play together, Lia. You'll just have to wait until he gets home from work is all."

"But then he'll be tired every day like father. Father never says two words to us because he's tired."

"If it makes you feel better, Lia, your father doesn't talk to me much these days either. He's never been much of a talkative person to begin with. I'm sure Felix will still talk to you when he gets home."

"Did he want me to work with him?" Mother shook her head.

"He would rather you didn't work with him. The pay isn't as good as it should be and there's a lot of swallowing your pride and letting Patricians bark orders at you. He would prefer that you get a job at the meat market or the slave docks. Frankly, I don't care if you get a job at a whore house as long as you get yourself a job."

"Is this everything father wanted to talk to me about?" Mother nodded.

"Yes. That's about it. He might bring up something about marriage, but I already told him no on that one, so he probably won't bring it up."

"Marriage?"

"Not now of course, but he wants you to start thinking about it. The sooner you have kids, the more help they'll be to you as he put it. Frankly, I don't think fourteen year olds are capable of being parents, so I'm not letting you get married just yet. I'm assuming you currently don't have anyone you would consider." I shook my head.

"Not really, no."

"Good. You think about silly things like that when you're out of the house and making your own way." Mother kept cooking a bit, then she had a thought and turned her attention back to me. "Speaking of jobs and getting out of the house, why don't you join the army?"

"The Roman Army?" Mother nodded.

"Sure. It's good pay, you're a respected citizen, you get to march in a parade every year by Battalion, you could even end up an aristocrat if you play your cards right."

"Mother, how would becoming a foot soldier make me a Patrician?"

"By being better than the other food soldiers. Save a few of their lives, get an important captain out of trouble, anything. Goodness dear, you could become a Prefect! A Tribune, a Centurion, Felix the possibilities for riches are endless. Look at Gaius Julius Caesar."

"Mother, Caesar was already a wealthy man before he became what he is now. Just because he's leading an army through Europe doesn't mean his soldiers are rich."

"Maybe not, but you can join the army and become a part of a European conquest. Even if you don't gain riches, that is commendable." I sighed.

"It's commendable if I live, mother. If I die, especially outside of Rome, I'm doomed." Mother sighed.

"It was just suggestion, Felix. All you need to do is weigh your options and find a job that you're best suited for and that you can actually acquire. Remember, Felix, just because you want a certain job, doesn't mean you're going to get it. So don't put all your eggs in one basket." As mother was talking, I heard the door open and looked over to see father walking in with his usual drained expression.

"I see your mother already filled you in on what I was telling her about." I nodded at father.

"Yes, she did. So I'll start looking for a job tomorrow?" He nodded.

"That would be best. You and I will leave together and you can walk with me to my job and you can start looking from there."

"Couldn't you put in a good word for me where you work?" He shook his head.

"Felix, you don't want to work where I do. You're a good kid, I don't want them turning you into a cynical pretentious asshole. I'd say we have enough of those in this family with me."

"You're not a cynical asshole father." Mother smiled.

"Clearly, you've never seen him talk to our meat man." Father gave mother a stern look and she bowed her head apologetically, still smiling a little, and went back to her cooking. I could tell dinner was almost done anyway. Lia walked over to father and gently pulled on his arm while he sat down.

"But father, I don't want Felix to get a job. His job is to stay here and play with me all day." Father had an uncharacteristic smile on his face for a moment and patted Lia's head.

"I know you don't want him to leave Lia, but he's a man now. He needs to work if he's ever going to provide for himself and a family one day. What if I were to die tomorrow and leave you and your mother with nothing? Felix doesn't have a job, so he can't take care of you."

"But father."

"Lia, don't be that way. I'm thinking of our wellbeing. That's my job as head of the household. Felix needs to learn that." Lia sighed and walked over to me.

"Only if he promises to make time for me after work." I smiled and patted Lia's head.

"I will Lia. Don't worry." Mother laughed a little.

"See, he doesn't need a wife. His sister's good enough." Father gave mother another look and she started serving dinner.

"I'm more concerned about him having children."

"He can worry about that when he's older. Let's worry about him getting a job before we make him look for dependants." Father sighed while mother gave him a helping of food and said nothing more for the rest of the night. That afternoon was an odd number of words for him. Usually, his words consisted of, 'Hello' and 'What a day', and then he would be silent the rest of the afternoon.

That night when Lia and I went to bed, she made me promise again that I wouldn't neglect her when I got a job and I promised I wouldn't. The next morning, mother made breakfast for us and father and I left together so I could start my job search. I started in the surrounding areas where father worked. No one in that area was hiring, so I kept going down that street asking everyone I came across. I passed a whore house and remembered what mother said, but I decided it would be best to save that as a last resort.

Sadly, those who were hiring were put off by my age. They didn't think a fourteen year old was capable of the work they needed done. By the time I'd gone down that whole district, no one was hiring period, or no one was hiring a fourteen year old. I tried another district, and still came up with nothing. I went home when the sun set, empty handed in a manner of speaking.

"How could no one be hiring? There's always someone hiring." I shrugged while mother had her quiet rant.

"I don't know. No one was hiring either because there were no positions open or because of my age." Mother suddenly stared wide eyed at me.

"Felix, please tell me you lied about your age."

"What are you talking about?" Mother sighed.

"Well no wonder you couldn't find a job. Felix, you need to tell them you're at least sixteen."

"What difference would that make? It won't change that I'm not as muscular as a few of them would like." Mother got her lecturing face on.

"Felix, if they bring up physic, you leave at once. No employer cares if his men aren't muscular unless he has mal-intentions. And no son of mine will become the 'up the butt' boy." My eyes widened while Lia, not getting what we were talking about, laughed a little.

"What makes you think every single employer in Rome wants me as an ass toy?" Mother gave me a look that made me feel like I was asking a stupid question.

"Because this is Rome, dear. These men will hump sheep if they have the option." Lia still had no idea what we were talking about, which I was relieved about. I didn't want her to have the same image in her head that I did.

"Mother, you're worrying too much." Mother sighed.

"I only worry because I love you, Felix. That's what mothers do." Lia smiled and hugged me.

"I love you too, Felix." I smiled and hugged Lia back. I was going to miss her whenever I was at work.

"Just keep looking tomorrow, okay? And this time when you look, don't tell them you're only fourteen. You tell them you're at least sixteen. If you can get them to believe you're eighteen, that would be better."

"Mother, they're not going to believe I'm eighteen."

"I said if you can." Mother smiled and walked over to me and kissed my forehead, then went back to dinner. I was sitting there stunned a moment, not sure what to think about what mother just did, but I let it go and took it for its rarity.

Then Lia grabbed my hand and pulled me to our section of the house so she could show me the bird's nest that was perched on our window. Neither of us knew what type of bird it was, but it was a common brown bird that was really small and could probably fit in Lia's tiny hands easily. I wanted to move the nest, but Lia insisted that I don't. She wanted to watch the baby birds grow up. Reluctantly, I let her keep the birds on the stoop and had spent the whole night desperately trying to ignore the bird while it was flittering and chirping. I hated birds with a passion by morning.

"You're planning to continue looking?" Father asked during breakfast. He was really asking as much as telling me, so I gave him the answer he wanted.

"Yes, father, I'll keep looking today. I promise to have a job by the time the sun sets."

"Good to hear, Felix, good to hear. Once you have a job, we can work on you getting a wife and moving into your own house."

"Husband, it's too soon to talk of such things. He only be fourteen."

"I was sixteen when we wed."

"And your father was a pushy man to put it kindly." Father waved his hand dismissively at mother and she didn't speak anymore.

When father and I finished breakfast, he went to work and I started looking for a job in another district. This time, I was sure to tell people I was sixteen when they asked, but I still didn't have luck that day. I wasn't sure why I couldn't seem to get a job. I couldn't imagine that my scrawny physique could be the reason. Though that might lead them to know my real age and hence not want me around. With no luck elsewhere, that whore house was looking pretty decent right about now. I was worried that if I came home without a job, father would whip me in aggravation.

Even when it was sundown, I kept looking for a job at all the places that were still open later after sunset. I tried a bar, but they didn't think I was old enough for the job. I even went to my last resort job at the whore house and they already had a slave doing the job they could hire me for. I wondered if father would reconsider putting in a good word for me at his place of work. It might not be a good job, but beggars couldn't be choosers I suppose. I was a good way away from home, but I was hoping I would get back home before midnight. I doubted mother would take the time to look outside to see how late I was, but it was a good idea to have the knowledge for myself just in case.

I walked home at a leisurely pace more or less. I wasn't in the best of moods at the moment, so I was trudging along as opposed to walking. When I was close to my home, I saw smoke in the distance. I couldn't tell where it was coming from exactly until I reached the street that crossed my house. When I saw the flames from my house, my eyes widened and I dashed to look for Lia. She wasn't there and she didn't answer me when she called. I asked one of the slaves if she was out and they told me no one had come out of my house and that the fire had been going on for a good ten minutes. That was all I needed to hear before I dashed into my house after covering myself with water.

Once I was soaked, I ran into the house and yelled for Lia. I didn't hear a response, but I saw two bodies in the bedroom being scorched. I knew who they were, so I took my eyes away and tried to hurry. I couldn't see through the smoke. The only light that pierced the smoke was the fire, but I followed the floor to mine and Lia's part of the house. I heard someone coughing and followed the sound hurriedly. My knees hit the side of something that felt like a bed, so I started feeling around until I found a small body. I lifted Lia into my arms and ran the way I came, trying to avoid any part of the house that had light. Once I was out of the house, I ran as far away from it as I could past all the spectators watching my house burn while two of our neighbors ordered their slaves to attempt to put out the fire. When I was a far enough distance away, I put Lia on the ground and examined her for any burns.

"Lia? Lia, can you hear me? Lia wake up." I patted her, relieved to find no burns on her. She coughed more, then opened her eyes.

"Felix? What happened?" I didn't need to answer her. She saw the flames behind me and stared at them wide eyed. "Where's mother and father?" I didn't have the heart to tell her. She looked at me with pleading eyes, begging me to answer her until I finally did.

"They were dead when I finally came home. I couldn't save them." Lia looked stunned. She stood up and walked a few inches towards the house, but did eventually stop.

"How did I live through that?"

"The fire hadn't gotten to you. And since you were right next to an open window and close to the ground, the smoke didn't do too much to you." I'm not sure if Lia was listening to me. She was staring at the burning house with tears in her eyes.

I noticed she was about to cry and walked over to her and took a hold of her trying to comfort her. When I had a hold of her, she buried her face into my stomach and started crying. The slaves were still trying to put out the fire, but it was almost gone with a few flames remaining. Lia was still hiding in my stomach, but had stopped crying a few minutes later when the house was finally clear of fire. I didn't know what I was going to do. I didn't have any money for a new house and I couldn't take care of Lia. But I didn't want to say that to her.

"Don't worry, Lia. Everything will be alright. I'll take care of us." Lia sniffed through the clog in her throat and looked at me.

"What are you going to do?" I was quiet a moment. I wasn't sure what to do. Everywhere I went, no one would hire me, and even if they did, there was no way……….unless it was the army. Normally, I would never want to do this, but I didn't have any other option.

"I'll sign up for the army. First thing tomorrow."


	12. Armed

Armed

_Author's Note: I would like it to be made known that, during this time, France was not yet France, it was Gaul, and that they were referred to as the Gaelic Nations. Yes, today, Gaelic refers to the Irish, but at the time, it referred to all the nations that Caesar had concurred. And I'd also like to add that a lot of my historical information is taken from Rome, the TV series. It's a great show for anyone who's interested in seeing it. It's packed full of sex, drugs, and blood, so it's not for the squeamish, but it's one of my favorite shows. That said, on to the story._

**51 B.C. Rome**

As I had promised Lia, I joined the army the next morning. One of our neighbors was kind enough to look after her while I went to the town square where the courthouse was. They didn't question my age, nor did they want any real information, other than my name. When I signed my name, they told me to be in a certain place at a certain time and that I started in two days, and to be prepared to lose my hair. I'd never realized until that night how much I actually liked my hair and how naked I felt when they'd shaved it off.

"So what will you do?" Lia asked me while we ate at a local bar. We were still staying with a neighbor for now, but I'd wanted to get a chance to talk to Lia alone about this.

"I'll go through basic training first and be a foot soldier. Once I'm done with training, they'll either keep me here to keep the city safe or send me off to fight for Caesar."

"I always thought his war was illegal." I shrugged.

"It depends on which politician you talk to. It doesn't really matter as long as I get an income. I get my first paycheck at the end of my first two weeks, so once I get that, try to find a place to stay. I don't want us to be a burden on our neighbors too much longer."

"Should I start looking now?"

"You could. The sooner you have a place to stay, the better."

I could tell Lia wasn't happy with the idea of me being in the army. She worried that she wouldn't see me again if I left. I promised her that I would always come home no matter what. She was reluctant to believe me, but she didn't really have a choice but to trust me and she hugged me goodbye before I had to leave for basic training. Once I started getting paychecks, I send all but 10% of it to Lia so she could afford a home and food. We wrote letters to each other all the time, letting me know what was happening. I sent her a letter asking her to try and find a husband, but she refused. She didn't want to look and not have me there to approve of him. I kept trying to convince her, but she always gave me the same response. She did tell me she got a job working for a seamstress. I figured if she wasn't planning on looking for a husband for a while, best she have a job and a little extra money than just what I sent her.

When I was done with basic training, I thought I would get to visit Rome before being sent out, but they sent me from basic training straight to Gaul. Lia wasn't happy at all. I could see little tear marks on her letter back to me when I'd sent a letter telling her I was being sent to Gaul. The first thing she asked me was when would I come back home. All I could tell her was that I didn't know. I couldn't imagine how upset that made her to read. But when I arrived in Gaul, I never had any time to ever write letters nor the paper and writing utensils. Every day was a new battle against the Gaelic people. Or it felt like every day. But at this moment, we were watching a man be punished for attempting to desert the army by being whipped.

"Marsanius Tifilio, a soldier who fought for our army, has been caught attempting to desert Caesar's great army. As you all should know, we do not take deserting lightly. All deserters are crucified and hung from their hands until they drain of blood and die. And you're all encouraged to mock him in his last days."

The officer kept talking while the man was being whipped. The rest of us stood there without saying a word. I already knew a few men that would jump on the chance to mock Tifilio. He was a prick to begin with. I never bothered talking to him and didn't plan to even to mock him. When the two soldiers whipping him were ordered to stop, they put down their whips and began to untie Tifilio from the platform. He was marched, buck naked, to the crucifixes that he would be spiked to and the soldiers were all led to that section of camp to watch the scene. No one winced or looked scared while they watched Tifilio get his just desserts. We were all here in Gaul for so long that we were desensitized to just about everything.

"I doubt anyone will try to desert after this." I looked at the guy standing next to me whose name I couldn't for the life of me remember.

"You never know. There's always someone stupid enough to try and cowardly enough to want to try."

"I don't think so. No matter what, I would never want to go through this." I shrugged.

"Men get desperate when they're homesick. You can hardly blame someone to be desperate to go home." The soldier was a little stunned and finally looked directly at me.

"How long has it been since you've been home?" I was quiet a moment. I didn't want to say the number out loud.

"Eight and a half years."

"Then shut up. I haven't seen my wife and son in twelve years. You don't hear me complaining about it."

"I would if I were you. Twelve years is a long time to be away from one's husband. How do you know she didn't find a nice pussyfooted homebody that would be able to satisfy her nightly?" That statement set him off and he grabbed a hold of the soldiers of my armor and threw me to the ground.

The other men circled around us to watch and the soldier and I began to fight. I threw a few good punches, as did he, and we both had blood coming from our mouths within the first few seconds of the fight. Avoiding his armor, I kept hitting his face and he managed to get a few quick punches back at me, but not as many as I managed to give him. Eventually, the other men were chanting for us to fight and others were bidding on which of us would win the fight. I ignored who they were betting for. I didn't want to hear either way. A couple minutes went by and we had hit each other a good few times before two officers forced us apart, punched us both, and four soldiers were ordered to carry us to the jail spot of camp so we could 'cool our heads'.

When the other man and I were put in separate sells, we didn't speak or look at one another. I just looked out the small crack in the wood walls at the soldier who'd just been perched up on the crucifix and was screaming like a woman. It wasn't long as all before he was surrounded my men spitting and urinating on him. One soldier cut off Tifilio's big toe as a reminder to never attempt something like this. Those scream lasted long after his toe was gone. I stopped watching when Tifilio began crying. It made me ashamed to watch him cry. It really did.

"That was below the belt." I looked at who was talking to me. It was the soldier I'd gotten into a fight with in the next sell. "She would never do something like that to me."

"I would hope not. After fighting for all these years, you don't deserve to come home to that."

"Now you're being understanding?" I shrugged.

"I was speaking in anger. Just because you've been here longer doesn't mean that you miss your family anymore than I miss mine."

"I take it you have your own pretty wife and kids at home?" I shook my head.

"Just a younger sister. Our parents were killed in a fire. I joined the army because I couldn't find a job otherwise."

"I see. Did she get married?" I shook my head.

"I asked her to, but she said that she didn't want to look for a husband when I wasn't there to approve of him. And admittedly, I'm glad she said that. I think the world of Lia and I want her with the best." He laughed a little.

"She sounds more like your daughter." I smiled a little and shrugged again.

"Sometimes it feels like it. Mother and father preferred for us to be independent. I would never say they were bad parents, they simply weren't the affectionate type. So Lia usually depended on me. I guess that made her almost think of me more like a father than a brother."

"How old is she?"

"She will be sixteen this year." I groaned. "She was eight when I left."

"I have a son that should be turning nineteen this year. You live in Rome I assume?" I nodded.

"Yes."

"Well, I could send for my wife to become acquainted with your sister and she could meet my son. He's a good kid and he's not married as far as I know. They aren't too far apart in age and my son would be able to provide for her." I sighed.

"That's a tempting offer, but I don't know if I can accept it. With all due respect, I've never met your son. I have no way of knowing whether the marriage will be successful." He nodded.

"I understand. Maybe one day when we go back to Rome, we can open up the prospect again." I smiled.

"That would be nice. I want to know someone's taking care of her. Sure, she has a job as a seamstress now, but that only provides her with so much, including the money I send to her."

"Eventually, brother. Eventually."

Me and him stayed in the sells for a good two or three hours. The sun was about to go down when someone came in and told us that we could come out now. The next morning, we all woke up to the sound of men yelling. Every soldier burst out of their tent to the gate to see what was going on. As I'd assumed, Gaelic men were at our gates trying to get in and attack. They ruined the element of surprise with battle cries, but I suppose one man's ignorance is another man's convenience.

Our commanding officers went to the front line and directed us to get into line until we were properly organized. Once we were, the gate was opened with archers ensuring that no one got into camp. As they kept the enemy at bay, we were marched out and the gate was closed once we were all out and ready to fight. There weren't many enemies present at the fight. I worried that there might be an ambush being carried out. I told my officer so, and he sent another soldier to the back to signal the archers so they could circle the camp and make sure there wasn't anything to worry about.

Thankfully, there was nothing preparing at the back, but the archers stayed there for the rest of the battle and an officer was there with them, ready to signal for soldiers to go to that side of camp if the necessity came up. The battle didn't get really bloody until the enemy charged at us with battle cries roaring through the air. But that was their biggest mistake. Along with our archers shooting at them, we had a turtle formation set up, so they couldn't get through to us easily and we could just stab them from behind our shields. Those few times they killed one of our own, another man stepped forward to take his place and the Gaelic was usually dead before he got there.

We were in battle for a good part of an hour. Or maybe longer. I wasn't paying attention to the time. I was concentrating on killing those who came too close to me. And that happened often. By the time the enemy finally retreated, we'd killed up to half of their men. We all had our moment of cheering victory before we were ordered back into camp. As we were walking back inside, the man that I'd fought yesterday and had the heart to heart with all in one day walked over to me.

"I never got your name."

"It's Felix. Felix Viltanius."

"Viltanius? The name sounds familiar."

"Perhaps you knew my father." He shrugged.

"Maybe. My name is Bruno. Bruno Florincius."

"Nice to finally know the name of the man that offered my sister a husband." He chuckled.

"A name does make us better acquainted."

"You said your son was nineteen, am I right?"

"Yes. I remember his birthday being in October, so he should be nineteen by now."

"And Lia's birthday is May, so she turned sixteen pretty recently. If the Gods will it so, we can see each other again when we come home to Rome and introduce them. What is your son's name by the way?"

"Florinian."

"Sounds oddly feminine. Sorry if that's rude."

"Not at all. A lot of people say that. I wanted him to be named after me, but his mother didn't like any variations of Bruno, so we went with Florincius, hence Florinian." I shrugged.

"Better that, if it's what was approved of."

"Indeed. But how are you not married?"

"I joined the army when I was fourteen. I didn't have time to find a wife before I joined." Bruno laughed a little.

"I see. I was twenty when I joined, so I had the time. My father and mother insisted that I get married before I joined the army, so I did. I made sure my wife was with child before I left, and when I was allowed to visit twelve years ago, I made her with child again. And that was the birth of my younger son, Pulio."

"So he's eleven now, I assume."

"Yes. He turns twelve at the end of this year."

"Congratulations to you. I grieve with you in your long separation."

"And I you. Maybe we'll be able to go home soon. We've killed so many of the Gauls that I'd think we'd made them extinct by now." He laughed.

"You would think wouldn't you? There's no way they'll last much longer. They've lost too many men to be a threat to us anymore."

"And yet they still persist."

"They're stupid, Felix, so we can't expect them to figure out they've been beaten. At this rate, we'll have killed too many to take any of them back to Rome as slaves. A man could make a nice Gerri of them."

"Especially for female slaves."

"Indeed. A baby maker is naturally worth more money. And of course, I know plenty of men that would love the free sex without the hassle of going to a whore house." We reached one of the tents and I was about to walk in when he stopped me. "You said you were fourteen when you enlisted?"

"Yes." He shook his head.

"Too young. Far too young. I assume you've never penetrated a woman then? Or a man, whichever you prefer."

"I've slept with a man once, but it was about five years ago. I've never slept with a woman before."

"That's a shame. Did you enjoy it with a man?" I shrugged.

"It sufficed at the time. I would consider it if I had no other option, but if I could chose between a man or woman, I think I would choose a woman."

"Well, there are plenty of Gaelic whores around here that would happily give themselves for a loaf of bread and some goat's milk."

"I take it you've partaken?" He shook his head.

"No no, certainly not. I attempted one night, but I was thinking of my wife all the while. When I opened my eyes and remembered that it wasn't her, I simply…..I couldn't do it. Let's leave it at that." I shrugged.

"You're an honorable husband. You're wife should feel lucky." He smiled.

"Thank you for that. But for what it's worth, it wasn't her fault. She was a perfectly adequate lover and I think she would please you."

"And all it would take is a loaf of bread?" He nodded.

"That's it. And we get bread by the pound, so sparing a loaf wouldn't be a loss." I smiled.

"Thanks for that."

"We can do that tonight if you like." I thought about it for a moment and shrugged.

"Sounds good. If you can find her."

"Don't worry about it, I know where she is. This is your tent correct?" I nodded.

"Yes."

"Good. I'll come by here and get you when I find her. While you're busy with her, I'll keep watch, make sure no Gauls come around."

"Thanks, Bruno. I appreciate that."

"Think nothing of it."

Bruno left for his tent after that and I went back into mine to discard my army and be a little more comfortable. The four men I shared the tent with weren't back yet. They were those soldiers that would look through the bodies to find valuables, so I wasn't expecting them back for at least an hour. The younger of us, Julian, would collect things for his son and daughter at home. He'd been here for only two years and he missed those two a lot. He would mop around most of the time. The only time any of us got a smile out of him was when he was talking about his two children.

When my armor was off, I sat down on my bed and went straight to sleep. I felt someone nudge me to wake me up a short time later. It was one of the soldiers I shared the tent with, Metalio. He was an oddly pale man for most Italians with what used to be long curly brown hair, but was now cropped and a simple tint on his head where his hair used to be. He was the same height as me and he wasn't wearing his armor, so I assumed he'd taken it off before waking me up. I noticed a large pile of stuff on his bed and he had a grin on his face.

"What is it, Metalio?"

"You wouldn't believe the loot I got from those Gaelic soldiers. They were carrying some nice little trinkets. They'll catch a hefty price when we get home to Rome, wouldn't you say?" I groaned.

"You woke me up for this?"

"Well, I was excited and none of the others are back yet. They wanted to do a little more foraging. And I wanted to ask if you wanted any of it. You don't usually look for stuff."

"I'm collecting people after the war. Nothing catches more money than inferior human beings." He laughed.

"That's true, I'll give you that. Just don't call them human beings in front of the people interested in buying the slaves. They try to consider them as things and not people." I shrugged.

"They aren't people. Once they're owned by a Roman home, they're property, just like a piece of cattle or a dog. But sadly, until then, they're still human beings."

"Well, that's what the whip is for. It beats the humanity out of them."

"So what did you collect?" He wandered over to his pile and looked through it.

"Some pouches made of deer hide. I have plenty of those. I got some furs that I'm sure Roman women would kill for."

"How much blood's on them?"

"Not much, actually. I only collected the furs off men that had been shot with arrows. Minimal blood stains for double the profit. And I've got several weapons that those Neanderthals were using and I thought those looked fun. If I can't sell them, I can always keep them as mementoes."

"Did you get any jewelry? Those usually do good on the market."

"Not as much as I would like. But I did get a few necklaces made from teeth and bone." I couldn't help but laugh.

"It's comical how savage these people are, isn't it?"

"I know. It makes scavenging their bodies all the more fun. I can't believe you don't do it."

"I don't have the patients to look through all of them. Besides, after a battle, I would much rather take a nap."

"I see. That's understandable I guess. Do you think the war will be over soon?"

"I hope so. Unless Caesar wants us to go into the ocean and see if there's any land nearby." He laughed.

"Let's hope not. Salt water's dreadful. I'd hate to swim through it for who knows how long. And if the Gauls are any indication, anything across the sea would be worse." I laughed and he did too. "Remember that one time we sent an envoy to negotiate with them and they sent him back riding his horse without his head?"

"Of course. And guess what, they lost. Besides, they don't speak Latin, so I doubt anything we tried to say would translate to them."

"Doesn't their leader at least speak Latin?"

"I wouldn't count on it. Come on, these are Gaelic people that live in the woods off their own shit. I'm impressed they even have a spoken language to begin with." Metalio laughed again.

"I know right."

Metalio looked through his loot a little more and organized them into different bags like he always did. His side of the tent was covered with bags that he'd filled with things over the years that he was planning to sell when we finally got home. And he never complained about how heavy it was to carry all of them whenever we changed locations. He bragged that he would one day be a rich man from all the things that he would sell when he got back home. An hour later, the rest of my roommates came back to the tent with their own loot. Metalio finally let me get some sleep and I didn't wake up until I was nudged again. This time it was Bruno.

"You ready to go?"

"You found her?"

"Yeah. She's outside the base right now. So bring some bread and give it to her after you've coupled. Trust me, if you give it to her up front, she'll just run off on you."

Bruno waited for me outside while I got on my armor and retrieved a loaf of bread. Once I had everything, we walked to the gate and went out and he led me where the woman was waiting for us. I asked Bruno to hold the bread for me while I went on with my business. I wasn't sure how to go about this, but she decided how to start it for me. She went to her knees and began to service me. She didn't need to do that for very long before I had her up against the tree and handled the rest. When I was done, I gave her the bread she wanted and wandered off back to where Bruno found her.

"So what did you think of her?" Bruno asked me while we were walking back to camp.

"It was pleasant."

"Better than men?"

"Yes, better than men. But when one is desperate, one goes with what he can." Bruno laughed and patted me on the back.

"You really are a man of Roman blood, Felix." We chuckled a Little and walked pass the gate together and we said our goodbyes before I went back into my tent where my four roommates waited. Metalio was already asleep, leaving Skipian, Torinian, and Julian awake.

"Where did you wander off to?" Torinian asked me while he took a bite of his bread.

"I went off to handle some personal business." They all laughed a little, except Julian of course. He was staring at a picture of his family. Skipian finally spoke.

"Of course. It's business all men must handle." They laughed again and I shrugged with a humored smile.

"You men do the same, no doubt."

"Of course." Skipian said. "What other time in our lives will we get sex for free from woman other than our wives than when we're soldiers? These Gaelic broads stand no chance against us." Torinian nodded.

"Neither do their men by all accounts." We all shared a laugh. Metalio groaned and mumbled for us to be quiet so he could sleep. I gently kicked his side and got another groan of discontentment out of him before we all went to bed.

The next morning was outstandingly uneventful. Caesar didn't send us to do anything or order us to prepare for something we would do tomorrow. It was one of those few, peaceful days, where we soldiers got to sit around and relax. Even if just for one day out of the year. By afternoon, I was having a nice nap that I didn't often get to take until Metalio violently forced me out of bed to tell me that the king of all the Gauls was in camp surrendering to Caesar. I hurried to the middle of camp where Caesar and his minions stood close by with the king of the Gauls standing before him.

A captain presented the king to Caesar and asked what Caesar wished to do with him. Then the king was stripped naked to humiliate him, then pushed to his knees before Caesar with the Eagle pushed before him. When the king bowed his head on the Eagle, one soldier pulled out his sword and held it high chanting Caesar's name and the rest of us did the same. Then Caesar announced to us that the war was now over with the surrender of the Gauls and that we could take two days to sake the towns and take personal spoils. This was the day I'd been waiting for. Maybe now I would be able to go home.

We spent the next few days collecting Gaelic people so we could cart them back to Rome and sell them as slaves. I captured as many as I possibly could. I think I caught almost fifty. That would get me a decent amount of money. Maybe it would clear ten thousand denary. That would be plenty to live off of for a long while. We locked up all the people we'd captured in containment areas. Some of the soldiers, like myself, insisted on marking to people we'd captured so we wouldn't forget who's slave was who's. I did a make shift F on all their arms so I would know who was mine. And I counted fifty three slaves. I was rather proud of myself after I was done marking all of them.

"My, my, Felix, that's a hefty load." I turned and saw Bruno and smiled.

"This should cover the dowry wouldn't you agree?" Bruno laughed and nodded.

"I'm certain it will. With this many people, you might be able to get a new house."

"That would be grand. I'm sure Lia would love the new location. She's been in that small house off the corner of the whore houses for so long. I can't imagine how much she hates it. She never liked it whenever the neighbors were screaming. Regardless of whether it was sex or fighting."

"Most people do I imagine. Loud noises make it hard to sleep."

"So how long do you think it'll be before Caesar finally starts sending us home?"

"Who knows. Try not to question it, though. Questioning Caesar tends to anger our superiors." I laughed a little.

"I'll keep that question to myself then." Bruno laughed a little.

"Wise decision, brother."

Then Bruno walked off to do something else while I locked up the large container that I was keeping my slaves in. A few of them were yelling at me in Gaelic. I simple bit my thumb at them and walked off. I doubt they knew the insulting significance of biting one's thumb, but it didn't matter. As long as I got that satisfaction. The rest of the day was uneventful except for the cheering from men and the loud talking that came with it. Once night, we celebrated with a huge feast and drank to our victory. It was pleasing. The next morning, Caesar even gave the order to begin packing our things.

But about four weeks after our victory, something really unnerving happened. The Eagle was stolen from us by Blue Spaniards. We knew from the tell tale sign of the blue paint that was on the dead soldiers that were found. Caesar made a point to look unfazed to us, but what he was really feeling I wasn't sure. But what I did know was that this meant it would take longer for us to go back home, and that angered me immensely. We started crucified witnesses one by one until eventually someone told us where the culprits were. Two men were then sent out to look for the Eagle.

"I can't believe this." We all looked at Metalio, who was staring at his bread angry. "We finally started packing to go home, and our Eagle is stolen by a bunch of cock sucking whores."

"Metalio, calm down, they'll find the Eagle. And when they do, we'll finally start going home." Torinian held his hand up at Skipian.

"Even if they find the Eagle, we now have another matter entirely to deal with. And besides, Caesar is being considered a war criminal. He won't be allowed back into Rome and neither will we by association." Julian looked really sad after that and continued to say nothing while Skipian and Torinian continued to debate.

"They can't shut us out. We're simply following orders. We can't be held responsible for Caesar's choices."

"The Roman people won't accept that and you know it. They're fickle. They'll favor anyone who gives them better options and right now, Caesar's been away too long. And his term is about to run out."

"Then make him stand trial. Banish him, I don't care. Just let us soldiers who bled for our people come home." I sighed.

"If only it were actually that simple."

"I suppose this means I'll be here as long as you've all been after all." We rolled our eyes at Julian.

"Don't say things like that, Julian. At least you'll be home before your children become adults. Unlike the rest of us of course." We all looked at Torinian with a little contempt in our eyes. We hated that what he was saying was true.

I didn't speak much or add much to the conversation to begin with. But after that, I stopped contributing to the conversation all together. Julian stopped listening and tried going to sleep while Metalio, Torinian, and Skipian continued to argue about Caesar. Then they somehow brought Pompei into the conversation. I doubted anything would happen between him and Caesar. They were thick as thieves. And Pompei was married to Caesar's daughter, Julia. That came up in the conversation, and I found out that evidently, Julia died in childbirth. I suppose that would put a damper on Caesar and Pompei's relationship.

It was several days before the two soldiers sent out came back. And when they did, they came back with the Eagle and Caesar's great nephew, Octavian. From what I heard, he was sent by his mother Atia to give Caesar a white horse, which he was riding when he came into camp. And the soldiers presented along with the Eagle, the head of one of Pompei's underlings. When I heard that, I nearly punched the man next to me. Now we were certain to be kept in Gaul. They would never let Caesar back into Rome now.

"This is ridiculous."

"Felix, we're all unhappy. Just keep it to yourself. The moment they whip you for expressing your discontent, I no longer know you." I rolled my eyes at Metalio and entered our tent and fell right into my bed. I just wanted to sleep.

"Eight and a half years. After winter, it'll be nine years since I've seen my sister."

"You're not the only person in this camp that's gone years without seeing his family. Try not to be a huge pussy about it. No one likes that attitude."

"Shut up, Metalio. You're as angry as I am. This puts a damper on your, 'Finally going home to sell my loot and become a wealthy man', agenda, wouldn't you agree?"

"Maybe it does, Felix, but I have the good graces to look at my superior in the eye and tell him I'm not mad about it."

"That makes you a liar. And that's just as bad." I got up from my bed and walked to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to the temple. I want to pray."

"Since when do you pray?"

"Since I know Lia's going to need me to." Metalio rolled his eyes with a sigh while I walked out and I made my way to the temple that was on camp grounds.

I'd already prayed for all the men I'd killed. I never used the priests for that, though. Most of my money went home to Rome, so I never had enough money to pray at the temple to begin with. I still wasn't planning on talking to a priest. I just wanted to stand before the statues of every god and beg them to get me home until one of them eventually answered me. One of them was bound to take pity on me. I left the temple after an hour of praying to every god I knew and went back to my tent. All my roommates were back and they were in as sour a mood as I was.

"Did you hear what Caesar's planning for Marc Antony?" I shook my head at Metalio.

"I've not. Is it important?"

"He's sending Marc Antony back to Rome to make him people's Tribune." I laughed.

"That whore fucker? I'd sooner appoint a donkey." Metalio shrugged.

"I think that might be the point. He'll try to convince Pompei and the senate to accept his term as having six months left before termination. That's unacceptable, Caesar knows that, so it'll start something."

"Great. That's just what we want."

"Well, think of it this way, if Caesar does that, he'll probably march us onto Rome. When we do that and he wins, we'll be safe to stay in the city and we'll be with our families."

"But we'll be tyrants."

"Let Caesar worry about that. As long as we get to go home, that's all that's important."

I shrugged and went to my bed and laid down so I could fall asleep. Metalio was right that Caesar was arranging for Marc Antony to become Tribune. I didn't really care about that until I found out that he was taking the two soldiers that found the Eagle and twelve other soldiers with him back to Rome. I'm sure if we could, every soldier would suck up to him. But instead, we had to settle for praying at the temple. The temple never had so much business in a collection of three days. I was walking back to my tent from the temple while one of the soldiers that retrieved the Eagle was passing my way. I saluted him, and he me, then he ordered me to stay still.

"Viltanius." I stood still and addressed him appropriately. "I've seen you fight. You're a talented killer and I admit I'm impressed with you. I still need a few more soldiers to join me back to Rome with Marc Antony."

"Thank you, sir. I would be honored."

"I know, soldier. Be ready to leave in two days. On the second day, we leave for Rome at dawn." I saluted him.

"Yes, sir." He saluted me back, and we crossed paths as we walked pass each other.

I went straight to my tent, none of my roommates present at the time, and began packing. All that was left to cart with me were the fifty three people I'd captured and get them on the market. Once I had all my things except my bed packed up, I left the tent to look for Bruno. I needed to let him know I was leaving so he could tell me where he lived and what to say to his wife when I came to her door and told her that her husband offered her son to my sister. I finally found him on the eating grounds of camp having lunch with a few soldiers. I tapped his soldier and asked him to the side and spoke when we were able to have a private conversation.

"I was chosen to go to Rome with Marc Antony." Bruno grinned and patted my shoulder.

"I'm pleased to hear that. I did to." My eyes widened a little.

"You did?"

"Yes, I did. I was looking for you to tell you, but I couldn't find you, so I figured I'd wait until later when you would be in your tent. But thanks for saving me the search. I'm glad to hear you're going home too."

"Does this mean I'm meeting your son?"

"Of course. In fact, when we get home, I insist that you and your sister come to my home for dinner. Your sister and my son can get to know each other. And if you approve of him, we'll let them decide if they like each other enough to marry."

"Sounds like a plan I could go with. Let's just hope we aren't sent back here as soon as Marc Antony arrives."

"That would be cruel." We smiled in humor and Bruno invited me to have lunch with the other men he'd been talking to.

As promised, all the soldiers selected to accompany Marc Antony to Rome woke at dawn to leave. We were also joined by an elderly looking man that seemed to be one of Caesar's slaves. One of the soldiers told me he was sent with us to get word to Caesar on Marc Antony's progress. Marc Antony of course road at the front of the line with the two soldiers that retrieved Caesar's Eagle and Caesar's Great Nephew Octavian, while other soldiers followed in order of their rank, leaving me near the back. Bruno was a little bit ahead of me, but we could still talk just a little on our way back. And Rome was several days away, so we had plenty of opportunity to talk when we were resting.

"How does it feel, riding home for the first time in almost nine years?" I grinned and fell back.

"Fantastic. What about you? How does it feel to ride home after twelve years?"

"Grand. I'll finally get to see my family again." Bruno was silent a moment, which I didn't think anything of at first. But then he started talking again. "You don't think she has, do you?" I pushed up into a sitting position again, confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"My wife? Do you think that after all these years she did find someone else or let other men between her legs?" I shrugged.

"I wish I could tell you. The only way you'll know is when we get back and you see her. I don't think so, though. Though admittedly, I've heard of soldiers who've come home from war and found out their wives remarried because they were told by the paymasters that their husbands were dead. You can imagine the problems that led to." He laughed without humor.

"The paymasters never make mistakes my ass. Do you think that could've happened to your sister? Maybe she already married and was never able to get a letter to you."

"Please, don't put the thought in my head. I can't imagine who she would pick in a time of desperateness."

"Hopefully that's not the case, for my son and your sister."

"Does your son work?"

"I'm sure he does, but I haven't received a letter from home in so long that it's hard to say. And I've always been a soldier, so there's no family business to inherit from me."

"I'll have to make sure he works. I'll provide Lia with money, but I would like her to be able to rely more on her husband."

"There will be no problem there, I promise you. My son is responsible, so I'm sure he has a job right now. He needs to help support his mother and younger brother after all. And finding a job these days isn't easy with slaves taking all the work."

"I guess so. I haven't been in Rome for so long, I have no idea what's going on anymore. I never spoke politics with friends."

"You don't like politics?" I shook my head.

"They bore me to tears. German politics I enjoy, but nothing else."

"You mean man to man combat to settle a dispute?" I nodded with a smile.

"Yeah. That's something I would watch and enjoy." Bruno and I laughed a little bit.

We kept riding the next morning at a marginally maddening pace. I wanted to get home and the simple trotting of the horses was a lot slower than what I wanted to deal with. But I kept my pace the same as everyone else and never complained about how sore my ass was from sitting on a saddle all day. It took us eight days to finally reach Rome, but when we were outside the city, Marc Antony insisted that we stop for a moment. I was confused and aggravated while we all stopped and I watched Marc Antony get off his horse. My eyes followed where he was walking and I saw a lovely girl in the distance and I groaned to myself in annoyance. I couldn't believe he was stopping us so he could have a moment to fuck.

I never uttered a complaint, but I thought of plenty. I was a mere half hour away from Rome and I could see the city in the distance and here was Marc Antony having his way with a Sheppard whore. We all waited for him for about ten minutes before he finished with her and the woman ran off with her sheep. He looked really proud of himself while he walked back to his horse. And when he was finally on his horse, ready to go, we road on to Rome where we were greeted at the gate by people throwing us flowers. Some soldiers threw some loot to the people, earning more cheers from them. I looked through the crowd trying to find Lia, but I couldn't see her anywhere.

We road to the temple of Jupiter and took formation outside the temple while Marc Antony made a few more waves to the people. He told Octavian to go home and tell his mother that he would see her later. Then he told one of the legionaries to dismiss us and himself and to be prepared to be called upon whenever he calls. I was giddy when I heard that, but waited patiently for the legionary to tell us we were free to go. When he did, it took all of me not to sprint to my horse and collected people and grabbed a hold of the horse and the cage I had the future slaves in and walked off. But Bruno followed closely behind me.

"Let's get your trinkets to the slave market. Then I'll introduce you to my son." I smiled.

"Thank you, Bruno, but I think I should look for Lia first."

"Of course. But you said you don't know where she is. So allow my wife to help you. She works in the same district as your sister I believe. You said she was a seamstress and worked near the whore houses collected in a part of town?" I nodded.

"Yes."

"As I thought. My wife works in that area. She works with her sister at a little bar they own. Maybe my wife knows her and where she's living."

"Thanks, Bruno. That would be helpful."

Bruno patted my back and walked with me to the slave market that was generally in the middle of the city next to the Coliseum. I gave the man running the market the large containment that had my slaves and he looked through them and told me what their starting price would be. The all were worth at least fifty Denary. There would be an auction later that day and every day for the next fortnight, so I was confident I'd be able to sell almost all my captives. Bruno led me with him to his house when I was through with business in the market and his house was a good walk away from there.

"Like I said, my home is close to the bar where my wife works. I would assume that your sister lives close to the store she works at. So hopefully, she's just a stone throw away from my place."

"It's a safe enough bet." Bruno shrugged with a smile.

"You never know. My wife may even know your sister."

"Maybe." Once we finally arrived at Bruno's home, we walked to the door and he opened it and walked with a big smile on his face. His wife was surprised to see him, but she didn't waste any time running to him to greet him back home, same with his children. There was a boy that ran up to hug him that was obviously the oldest of the two boys. I assumed he was Florinian.

He was slightly taller than Bruno and had brown hair that reached down to his chin and it was curly. He almost looked Greek. But he had his mother's face and was certainly a handsome boy. I was still not sure if he was worthy of being called a man quite yet, but at least he was healthy and good looking and worthy of Lia in that respect. I wanted to be sure that when I presented the option to Lia that I made sure he was good enough at a first glance. I knew Lia would never be vain like that, but I was and that was good enough reason for me. He had a smaller face that had a diamond look to it in a way. His chin was a little pointier than I think is suitable for a man, but it was okay for his face. He had full lips and a long nose and brown eyes that were almond shaped. When Bruno had his reunion with his family, his wife finally noticed me and asked him who I was.

"Aphelia, this is a good friend of mine, Felix. You're to treat him with respect." She smiled and walked over to me to shake my hand.

"Welcome to our home, Felix. I'm glad Bruno was able to come home with a friend. Please, will you stay and join us for dinner? It would make us all most pleased." I smiled but shook my head.

"I would love to, but not tonight I'm afraid. I need to go home to Lia. Bruno says that you work at the bar that's near the seamstress she works for." Aphelia continued to smile and nodded.

"Granada? Yes, I know her. She has four women working for her I believe. Which one is your sister? I probably know her."

"Her name is Lia." Her smiled widened and she nodded.

"Ah yes, Lia. She's a beauty, Felix. You'll be pleased to see how much of a woman she's become. She's a tall thing now and her hair is long and she's healthy and good looking."

"Do you know where she's staying right now?"

"Oh sure, she lives just down the street from us."

"That's good news. How well do you know her?"

"Well enough to know she's a quiet little thing. I've spoken to her once or twice for more than a few minutes, but she tends to keep to herself. I think she just misses you is all."

"She won't have to miss me any longer than." She nodded and looked at Florinian.

"Sweetie, be a dear and take Felix to Lia's house. You remember where she lived right?"

"Yeah, I remember." Then Florinian walked over to me and we were about to leave, but Bruno stopped us.

"Felix." I turned to look at Bruno. "Please do join us for dinner tomorrow. It would be a perfect opportunity for Florinian and Lia to get to know each other. You aren't married yet am I right, Florinian?" Florinian was a little surprised.

"No. But when did you decide this?"

"A few weeks ago when I found out this man had a lovely little sister that needs a husband and I happen to have a handsome son that needs a wife."

"Well, father, I haven't said two words to the girl. Mother's the one that usually talks to her."

"Yes I know, but now you can do the opposite. Now does Felix's little sister please you, and do be honest." Florinian was silent, then he looked at me for a moment, then looked back at his father.

"She's a beauty. Very worthy of being a wife. A man would be lucky to have her love." Bruno smiled, then looked at me.

"It looks like we've got that part out of the way."

"Yes, Bruno, but remember that it's not set in stone yet. I would like Lia to get to know him and see if she's willing to spend the rest of her life with him."

"Of course, of course. And Florinian will be a perfect gentleman." Florinian nodded.

"Yes sir." Bruno looked pleased. I still wasn't sure, but I didn't expect to adore Florinian immediately. He was a contender to marry my sister, so naturally I was a little skeptical of him.

"Good. Now show Felix home so he and his sister can see each other. Please promise to come over for dinner tomorrow, Felix." I nodded.

"I will, Bruno."

"Excellent. I'll see you tomorrow." I waved goodbye to Bruno and his family while we walked out of the house. When Florinian had the door closed and we were walking to my home, I took the opportunity to learn a little more about him.

"So, Florinian, you're nineteen now."

"Yes sir. I turned nineteen in October."

"Good, good. You know my little sister is sixteen."

"Yes, sir, I've heard that from mother."

"Good, good. Now one of my biggest concerns about you marrying my sister is your occupation." He looked at me confused. "I mean do you have one?" He became aware and nodded.

"Yes, sir. I work at the same bar as my mother and aunt. I own the place." That took me by surprise.

"You own the bar." He nodded.

"Yes sir. My uncle passed away a few years ago and he doesn't have any sons, so I took over the business for him. You've earned a decent income since then. Not an emperor's wage I admit, but it brings in a good pay. Certainly enough to car for a family of three."

"I don't expect wealth, but I do expect stability."

"I can promise that much for sure, sir."

"That's good news. And I assume you've not had any women looking to make you their husband?"

"I have sir."

"Interesting. How many?"

"Three or four I believe." I couldn't help but laugh, but not quite in humor.

"Interesting. Three or four is a lot of damsels, Florinian."

"It is, sir."

"My I ask why none of them have been worthy to give their dowries?"

"Because mother didn't like them. I think she wanted me to end up with Lia anyway, so this works out for her as far as I know."

"What does she like about Lia that makes her special." Florinian laughed just a little when he thought about it.

"I think it has something to do with grandchildren. She wants beautiful grandchildren and she thinks that if Lia were my wife, we'd make beautiful grandchildren for her."

"Well, your mother will have to wait until I say it's alright to have them before she starts picturing them in her head."

"I know sir. But if I may be so bold, Lia's a very beautiful woman. And still innocent from what I know."

"A great a opinion to have of her. It's almost certainly true I'm sure." Florinian stopped and looked at him a little confused.

"This is it, sir." I looked at the tiny home and smiled. Then I looked back at Florinian.

"Thank you for directing me. I'll see your family tomorrow for dinner. Lia will dress her best, I expect the same from you if you're meeting her."

"Yes sir." Before he could walk off, I walked really close to him so my next words would be private.

"And remember something. Lia's my everything, you hear. She's my baby sister and she's all I have left. She's my life and I'd do anything for her. So if you do marry her, keep in mind that if you ever do anything to her, she's always got me to run and cry to, and you'll hear from me." He looked nervous, but nodded.

"I understand, sir."

"Good. Now go home. I'm sure what your mother was cooking was delicious and I'd hate for you to lose out on that."

"Thank you sir." Then Florinian turned around and made his way home. He started running when he was a good distance away. I like to think it was because I scared him, but it was probably because he didn't want to miss dinner.

I turned to look at the house and took a moment to look at it. It was a really small house, plenty for a single person. I had a feeling it was probably more presentable from the inside. I remembered Lia used to clean whenever she was upset or bored. The house was probably spotless than. I was nervous as I walked over to the front door about to knock. I wasn't sure if she'd heard me through the door or if she even recognized my voice after all these years. Once I was standing at the door, it was a moment before I finally pulled the door open and walked in. When I walked in, I saw Lia at the stove and she jumped when I entered. But she calmed immediately when she saw me and she gave me the big smile that I hadn't seen in almost nine years.

"Felix? You're home!" Lia ran to me and jumped into my arms and I spun her around in a hug. "I missed you so much." She forced the words through tears of joy and I hugged her tighter.

"I know, Lia. I missed you too. I'm sorry I was gone for so long. But I came home with plenty of spoils. We'll have lots of spending money."

"As long as you're finally home, I don't care." I chuckled and hugged her just a little tighter. "I was about to make some dinner. I'll make some for you too if you're willing to wait a bit."

"Of course, Lia." I let go of her and she took a moment to let go of me before she went back to the stove and put a second fish with hers.

"You don't mind fish, do you?"

"I'll take anything. After years of bread and soldier's porridge, I'll take anything." She giggled.

"I doubt you got nothing but porridge and bread. Didn't you eat any fruit in the area?"

"What fruit, we were in Gaul. They had strawberries, but those were the size of my nail and I was lucky to find five of them at any one time. And I found blackberries once in a blue moon. Any other food we had to snatch from the Gaelic people."

"I see. Then I'm sure a change of taste is something you're looking forward to."

"You have no idea, Lia." We were quiet a moment while she was cooking and it was a moment before I spoke and brought up one of the topics I wasn't as eager to talk about. "So guess what."

"What?" I sighed.

"I came home with a friend of mine, named Bruno. His wife is Aphelia and her son is Florinian. Do you know either of them?"

"Yes, I know Aphelia. She speaks to me from time to time. I feel horrible for never contributing much to the conversation. Why do you ask?"

"Well, the reason I bring it up is because, while I was in Gaul, I met Bruno and found out that Florinian, his son, is nineteen and unwed." Lia looked at me then.

"You want me to get married?"

"I'm not saying you two have to get married. I'm just presenting it as a possibility is all. I just want to ensure that you're taken care of."

"But I've got you."

"I know, Lia, and you always will. But you need more than just me. I can't take care of you forever."

"Neither can a husband." I shrugged.

"Well, Lia, if you out live your first husband, we just get you another one. People do it all the time. And from what I know of him, Florinian is a good match. Of course, that's all up to you once you get to know him. I don't want you to think I expect you to get married to him. If you don't like him, you don't like him."

"I know, Felix. You would never arrange anything without me giving my word." She giggled. "You haven't changed a bit. A little desensitized, but that's about it."

"You have no idea Lia. The things I've seen over the years made me not care anymore."

"Well that's not good." Lia finished making the fish and brought them to the table so we could have dinner. "Do you know if they'll send you back to Gaul?" I shook my head.

"Didn't you hear, Lia? The war's over now."

"So you're home for good?" I smiled.

"As of now, it looks that way." Lia grinned and hugged me tightly.

"I'm so happy to hear it." I hugged her back.

"I know you are."

"So when do I formally meet Florinian?"

"Tomorrow. Bruno invited us to dinner at his home tomorrow. I told him I expected him to dress nicely if he was meeting you. Do you have a nice dress?" Lia shook her head.

"No. I never thought to get one."

"Then we can search for one after dinner. I told him you would dress nice too. I don't want to make a dishonest man out of myself." Lia giggled and let go of me.

"Okay. I'll finish up quickly then."

When we finished dinner, I took Lia to the market and we looked through dresses. Lia found several that she liked and picked a peach colored one that was simple and mostly tied with light pink material. She looked adorable in it when she tried it on. It cost a little more than I thought a dress was worthy of costing, but it was disposable income. I even bought her a necklace. I couldn't imagine how long it'd been since Lia had taken the time to spoil herself if she ever did while I was away. While we were shopping, I told her about what little I know of Florinian. She already knew he owned the bar, but she knew little about him aside from that.

The next day, Lia went to work for the day and I took the day to go to the slave market to check up on the people I'd left there. So far, four had already been sold and there were plenty left to be rid of. I was excited about that. With some of that money, I bought a bird and brought it to Bruno's house as a gift. I knew Bruno was as stuck home and bored as I was, so I thought a gift would be a good gesture, especially since I would soon be their dinner guest. I stayed at Bruno's house and talked for a few hours before I realized Lia would be home soon and needed to leave. I got home before Lia and she showed up shortly thereafter. Once she was home, she put on her dress and I helped her with her hair, as well as I could.

"Do you think Florinian will like me?"

"I'm sure he will. He'd be a fool not to. He said you were beautiful and would make any man a worthy wife." Lia smiled.

"Should I wear make up?"

"No, Lia, don't wear makeup. Nothing makes a woman look desperate like makeup. Natural faces are the most beautiful and you don't need help from paints."

"How sweet of you to say, Felix."

Once Lia was ready, we walked the short distance to Bruno's home and he welcomed us both at the door. As I told him to, Florinian dressed appropriately and in much nicer robes than what men normally wore on a daily bases. I introduced Lia to him and stayed a safe distance so the two of them could talk and get to know one another. From what I could tell, Florinian acted as a gentlemen and Lia seemed to enjoy talking to him. Once I was more comfortable, I turned more of my attention to Bruno and his wife and what they were saying Pulio seemed to be trying to talk to Lia and Florinian, but they didn't much and him to the conversation. We stayed there long after we finished dinner and Aphelia laid out some cheese for dessert to go with our wine.

By the end of the night, Florinian and Lia seemed to hit it off really well. They were talking to just each other and they didn't seem to be shy anymore, though there remained some restraint to my relief. I wasn't sure how I felt about her and Florinian getting along so well. I guess I would have to see them together for a little longer before I decided whether I liked him or not. When it was late at night, Lia and I made our way home and I was exhausted when we got back, but I tried to stay awake to talk to Lia a little about tonight.

"Did you enjoy yourself tonight?" She nodded with a smile.

"Yes, I did. Florinian was a perfect gentleman, just like you would expect of him. I felt horrible about leaving Pulio out of the conversation, though."

"Don't worry about it, Lia. It's a brother rivalry thing. Nothing to be upset about if Florinian wouldn't let Pulio into the conversation."

"I suppose. But what did you think about Florinian? Do you think he's a worthy man?" I sighed after a moment.

"I think that he's a good kid. It'll be a while before I actually like him under the circumstances, but if he makes you happy, that's good enough for me."

"Well, it's too soon to say whether I like him in that way or not. I certainly can see being friends with him, but lovers will have to wait and see." I smiled.

"Thanks for taking your time with this. I don't want you to jump into marriage. If it takes a while to find you a husband, then it takes a while, no big deal." Lia smiled and came over to hug me.

"I'm so lucky to have such an understanding brother." I chuckled and held her back. Then she started talking again. "What about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you going to look for a wife when I find a husband?" I sighed again and shrugged.

"I probably will. It'll be a while before I do, though. I don't know any of the women in this area and don't know who would be acceptable."

"I could introduce you to a few women. And I'm sure Aphelia would too." I shrugged.

"We'll tackle that when it becomes an issue. For now, let's worry about getting you a husband that can give you children." Lia smiled.

"I would love a baby girl."

"I'm sure you'll have one, Lia."

Over the next couple of weeks, Lia would talk more to Florinian while she was on her way home from work and we would have dinner at their house or them at our house so that Lia and Florinian could keep talking and getting to know each other. He politely asked me one day if he and Lia could have a private date. The only reason I acted rationally and gave him a calm answer was because he was polite about it. Otherwise, I would hurt him. But whether I was comfortable or not, Lia and Florinian were really starting to hit it off and were getting closer with each passing day that they knew each other. I even caught Florinian give Lia a small kiss on the lips. I pretended that didn't bother me so much.

After two months of seeing each other, Florinian came home with Lia one day and Florinian kindly asked me for Lia's hand in marriage. He took a moment to make all these promises of loving her and taking care of her when I didn't answer him immediately. Lia looked hopeful that I would say yes and she was smiling the whole time he spoke. That was the face that made me agree to let him marry her. I already told her that if he made her happy, then he was good enough and it seemed he made her happy, so he was good enough for me. I promised a good dowry and sent him home to collaborate with his parents on the wedding date.

"Tell me honestly, Felix. Do you like him?"

"He makes you happy, Lia. Besides, he's a good choice in a husband. I'm proud that we could find you such a good man."

"Thank you, Felix. I really do love him."

"That's all I want, Lia. But you remember something. If he ever hurts your or is unfaithful to you, or speaks down to you, you let me know."

"If so, you'll be the first to know. I promise."

"Good."

Another few weeks was spent planning the wedding. We decided to have it outside the city with only family in attendance. There was minimal family on our side except for the neighbor that had taken care of Lia for the first few years that I was in the army. I had brought some clothes and foods and other goods for Lia's dowry and Bruno had taken care of buying them a home that was close to both me and him. We had dinner at their new house and spent most of the evening with the new couple. By the time we left, I was a little depressed to let her go and made her promise to visit all the time. After a few months, she was already pregnant.

"Felix." I looked at Bruno from my lunch. He was at my house to talk. We'd been spending more and more time together now that we were home with nothing to do.

"Yeah?"

"My son tells me that your sister is concerned for you." I gave him a weird look.

"Why would she say that?"

"He said that she was concerned that you might feel lonely without her and she asked him to ask my wife about finding you a lover or a wife." I laughed.

"I'm not sure I want a wife. A house slave, maybe, but I'm not sure about a wife."

"Well, with all that money you got from those captives from Gaul, you can definitely afford one."

"I barely know your wife, Bruno. She's a sweet woman, but she hardly knows me either and I doubt she knows what type of woman I would like."

"Do you even know what kind of woman you like? The first woman you were ever with was the Gaelic whore I found for you."

"I've had others since I've come home." They were prostitutes, granted, but the point was I had other women I'd been with.

"Prostitutes don't count, Felix. You need a woman that can bare your children." I sighed.

"Children can come later. I'll always be able to have children."

"Do you not want children?"

"I don't know. I've never thought much about it. When dodging steel, one doesn't give children much thought." Bruno sighed and shook his head.

"You need a wife. You really do. That and a job. Don't get me wrong, I need to find a job too. Not that I don't enjoy our talks, but I'm bored out of my mind all day."

"Me too."

"And Felix, please let my wife at least try to find you a wife. I think you'll go nuts if you don't have someone running that house for you that you can hump at the end of the day."

"Again, you're pretty much describing a house slave."

"You can't have children with a slave, though."

"Sure you can. People get their slaves pregnant all the time."

"Yes, Felix, and those are usually the babies that you hear on the side streets crying at the top of their lungs and no one is listening to them. You don't want that for your kid do you?"

"I wouldn't do that."

"Well, you can't accept the kid as yours. That wouldn't be socially acceptable."

"What do I care what's socially acceptable? No one cares what I do. I'm a soldier, not a senator."

"You're missing my point, Felix."

"No I'm not, Bruno. I get what you're saying. I'm just reluctant is all."

"I know, Felix. But trust me, my wife has an eye for silly things like this. She's a self proclaimed match maker. She matched her sister with her husband, may he rest in peace. She set up one of the bar girls with someone who worked at the whorehouse. It was an unlikely match when she told me about it, but when I see them together, they look plenty happy. Trust me, my wife will find you someone."

"Fine, Bruno. I'll let your wife play matchmaker. And I'll tell you what. If she finds me someone I like, I'll give you fifty Denary." He laughed and reached over to shake my hand.

"You've got a deal."

Bruno and I shook on it with a small laugh and went on with the day, talking about Lia and Florinian. According to Bruno, Florinian was really excited about the baby. I knew Lia was too. She was naturally a nurturing lady and was a natural born mother. That baby would undoubtedly be the luckiest child in the world with a mother like Lia. And I let Aphelia have her fun and try to find me a suitable wife. For a good few months, there would be a new woman at their house for dinner when I went there and she would spend most of the time talking to me. By the end of two months, I'd met eight different women. I barely knew any of their names. They were just random words to me. And when Aphelia asked me which woman I liked most, I just picked a name at random.

When I picked Annabelle, Aphelia arranged for us to meet as often as possible. Her father was a regular at the bar and he had a few debts to clear and offered his daughter to clear them. Florinian being taken and Pulio only being thirteen, there weren't any available children to give the daughter to. So Annabelle's father was really lucky that I picked his daughter out of a hat, figuratively speaking.

"So what's she like?" Lia was at my house and making me dinner. She wanted to have a day with me and I with her, so she was at my house, just her and me so we could catch up.

"I'm not too sure. I barely said much to her." Lia looked at me from the stove with her left hand seemingly permanently attached to the belly she was starting to form.

"Then why are you marrying her?" I shrugged.

"Because I need a wife, Lia. It's a silly reason to get married, I know, but I don't think I can stand being alone anymore. That and I need someone to take care of my house."

"You've got me, Felix. I know I'm not here all the time anymore, but I'm here as often as I can be."

"I know, Lia, but when the baby comes along, you'll have no time anymore. Children are time consuming, Lia. Has Florinian said anything about you quitting your job?" She sighed.

"He mentioned it. I think he knew you would eventually bring it up so he waited for you to say something." I chuckled. I wasn't comfortable with Florinian at first, but he was turning out to be a perfect man for Lia.

"That sounds like him. You probably should just quit your job. The more time you have to spare for the baby, the better." Lia smiled.

"I guess you're right. I've just been working for so long, it feels weird not having one."

"You'll get used to it, I'm sure. Besides, the kid will become your job once he's born." Lia giggled.

"You don't know it's a boy."

"If Florinian did his job, you should have a boy. A boy's always the best to have first."

"Sure, Felix, whatever you say. So when do I get to meet Annabelle?"

"When she's here later."

"She's coming here today?"

"Yeah. Aphelia arranged for us to spend as much time together as possible before we get married. She did that with you and Florinian."

"Yeah, but me and Florinian were friends before we were engaged."

"Don't worry about it, Lia. You have nothing to worry about except your pregnancy. Speaking of which, go to the temple and pray for a son."

"Well, maybe I want a girl." I chuckled.

"You can have all the girls you want after you have a boy." Lia rolled her eyes and finished cooking and brought the chicken to the table so we could sit and talk. Annabelle came after we finished dinner and looked a little surprised to see Lia.

"Who's she?"

"This is Lia. Lia, this is Annabelle, my fiancé." Lia smiled and stood up to shake her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm thrilled to hear he's finally settling down." Annabelle was surprised, but she finally shook her hand back.

"Yeah. It's nice to meet you too." Lia and Annabelle let go of each other and Lia took her seat and Annabelle took a seat on my lap. I let her stay there, but I had a feeling she was just trying to set her boundaries or something.

Annabelle and Lia barely said two words to one another. Lia tried to make conversation with her, but she seemed reluctant for whatever reason, so Lia and I did more of the talking. Lia didn't end up leaving until it was after sundown and I walked her and Annabelle home so they wouldn't have to worry about the dangers of Rome's streets at night. Florinian greeted us all at the door and said hello to Annabelle before taking Lia inside to sleep for the night. Annabelle's home wasn't too much further than that and when we got there, it sounded like her father was already sound asleep.

"I take it you and your sister are close."

"As close as they come. She's more like a daughter to me at times."

"I see."

Annabelle took me a little by surprise when she took me in a sudden kiss. I wasn't still for long and kissed her back, though I wasn't sure what had caused this sudden fit of affection. We'd kissed before, but it wasn't like this. I didn't think too much about it and let her do what she wanted. Eventually, she made the kiss deeper and I never stopped her. Then she began pushing me towards the ally so we would be completely alone and I made love to her in that ally without a thought. When we were done, she hurriedly pulled her dress back down and went inside her house bidding me goodnight.

Annabelle and I were married within the month and we moved into a slightly larger house in a complex near the whore houses where Lia and Florinian all worked. I found a job working for a man who would call on me to use my skills as a soldier to do him little favors to make sure that things that he wanted done were done and people that tried to cheat him learned to never do that again. I never told anyone that's what I did. I simply told them I worked for this made as a trader and they never questioned it. And I was still on call whenever Marc Antony called for us soldiers to attend a meeting with him for the sake of his protection. Needless to say, with all the little jobs, the slaves I'd sold, and the dowry from Annabelle, I was doing pretty well.

I'd been right about Florinian and Lia's child. They had a boy who looked a lot like Florinian. Sadly, he didn't inherit Lia's odd green eyes, but he was a cute little boy nonetheless. They decided to name the boy after me and that honored me more than words could say. Conveniently, he adored me and always wanted my attention whenever I was over at Lia's home. And he was growing like a weed. Despite everything that was obviously going on with Caesar and Pompei, my life was going well and seemed to be peaceful and I was hoping that would remain to be the case.


	13. Last of Rome

Last of Rome

**Rome, 49 b.c.**

"Felix, I need you to do something for me." I looked up from my plate at Annabelle. I'd spent eight months in Egypt and had just gotten back home and she was already asking me to do things.

"What?"

"That slave we had. He died, so I need you to get a new one." I rolled my eyes and dropped my spoon on my plate.

"Damn it, Annabelle, you need to feed them. They tend to last longer when you do that."

"I'm not wasting good food on a slave."

"Then I'm not wasting good money on a new one. You either take care of the help, or you don't get any." Annabelle crossed her arms at me.

"I can't take care of the house all by myself."

"Sure you can. Get off your ass and do things instead of making the slave do them."

"I do things around here! You're just never home to see it. You're usually at your sister's house or a whore house."

"I'm usually at work, Annabelle. You know the eight months I've been gone? That was me at work. Maybe you should do the same."

"A wife does work! She takes care of the household, which is what I do!"

"It's not like we have kids that would require your undying attention. All you should be doing is cleaning and cooking, and frankly any shmuck can do that, hence why I let you have a slave. But if you're not going to take care of them, I'm not wasting my money on them. Get a job and pay for them yourself, or take care of them and I'll pay for them." I stood up and walked to the door.

"Where are you going? It's night."

"I'm going to my sister's. I haven't seen her since I came home." Annabelle glared at me.

"Every time something happens, you go to your damn sister's house. You should just marry the damn girl if you're going to put her before me all the time."

"Annabelle, I put my sister before you all the time because I like her more than you and because she deserves my attention more than you. Frankly, if I could marry my sister, I would rather do that. At least she takes good care of a house and kids."

"We don't have kids for me to take care of! You said you didn't want kids!"

"I said I don't want kids with you, Annabelle. I'll see you when I get home."

I walked out of the house, Annabelle staring at me in shock while I walked out. I didn't hear her start yelling until I was out of the complex. By then, I was too far away for her to yell at me anymore. It was too late, so I didn't actually go to Lia's house. She and Florinian were probably asleep and I didn't want to wake them. Felix would keep them awake all hours of the night sometimes, so if they had the opportunity to sleep, I didn't want to disturb them. Instead, I walked to the other part of the neighborhood where I usually went. There was a prostitute I knew there that I'd become really fond of named Jillian. When I got to the whore house, the owner, a man named Finius, welcomed me.

"Ah, Felix, there you are. I was beginning to think you weren't coming back. How was Egypt?"

"It had a lot of sand. That's really all there is to say about Egypt."

"That's what I've been told. So the usual?" I nodded.

"Yeah, the usual."

"Wonderful. Jillian is in the bath now, but she'll be out soon. So just wait for her in her room."

"I'll do just that." I took out the money and put it on his desk. "That should cover how long I'll be. If you need more, let me know." Finius picked of the coins and counted them in front of me. Then he chuckled.

"Planning to stay a while?" I shrugged.

"It's been a bad night." Finius chuckled.

"Well, Jillian will certainly remedy that. And I must admit she's missed you a lot, Felix. She'll be very happy to see you. You know where to go." I thanked Finius and walked down the hall to one of the last doors to my right.

No one was in when I entered, so I took a seat on the bed in the corner and laid down to wait for her to get out of the bath. When I'd first been a customer here, I would never wait for a whore. If one wasn't available, then I'd pick another one, simple as that. But when I started using Jillian, I changed a little. It was gradual, but the change was there. The first time I'd ever had sex with her, she'd been really shy and hardly knew what she was doing. They'd warned me that she was new, but I'd wanted someone clean for once. I ended up teaching her how to have sex and even started doing things to pleasure her and not just me. After a year of that, I'd started to really like her. There was something about her that made her special, so I always used her. I was even willing to wait whenever she had a customer now. It was a weird dynamic to have with a sex slave, but it was there none the less. I'd waited in the room for about ten minutes before Jillian finally came in, covered by a towel.

Jillian was one of the most beautiful women I'd ever known. She had light brown hair that was wavy and reached her lower back and an olive tone with a very thin face that had the slightest bit of a square look to it. She wasn't very tall at all. I was six feet tall, and she was no taller than 5' 2" at best and she was as tiny as any woman came. She had hips that were voluptuous and pleasing with a waist I could almost fit my fingers around and breasts that were plump and lovely and could fit almost perfectly in my hands. She didn't look surprised to see me. There was no reason for surprise. Instead, she just smiled at me. It was a smile that reminded me of Venus.

"You're finally home." I smiled back.

"Business in Egypt is pretty much done with. So they sent most of the soldiers home."

"I see. I'm glad you came. I must admit I missed you." I chuckled and Jillian walked over to me and sat in my lap.

"I admit I missed you too. I counted the days until I could have you again." Jillian giggled from my statement and from the kisses I placed on her neck.

"I'm sorry if I kept you waiting really long. If I'd have known you were waiting, I would've come out sooner."

"Don't worry about it. It was only ten minutes." Jillian smiled a little more, then brought her lips to mine to kiss me.

That was another thing about us that was odd. I was never a fan of kissing others. It seemed too much like something people only did when they loved each other. Odd, perhaps, but sex is such a simple, carnal pleasure. Kissing is something that makes a man and woman tremble with something that's more than simple sexual need. I didn't even kiss Annabelle anymore. We'd have sex once in a blue moon, but we never kissed. I simply didn't want to. She'd formed such a pointless dislike for Lia in the past few years and it bothered me, so our relationship suffered. She hated that I chose Lia first instead of her. Jillian wasn't like that. Maybe it was because she was a slave, but she was more understanding.

Before I could, Jillian pulled off the towel she'd had tied around her body so she was bare to my touch. My hands went straight to her breasts and I fell onto the bed and turned us so she was beneath me. I allowed a little space between us so she could get rid of my clothes. Unlike any other prostitute, she never rushed to get my clothes off. She took her time with me. That made me appreciate her even more. When she had off my shirt, I began kissing her neck, down to her breasts and stayed there for a few minutes, then kissed along her belly until I eventually reached her favorite spot. I used my fingers and stayed where I was until she came undone completely. When she did, I made my way up and kissed her again before she did the same thing to me. And once I came, she came back up to meet me and guided me inside her and we started to move. Once we were done, I leaned against the wall while still sitting in her bed and watched her reached for our clothes.

"Did you enjoy yourself, Felix?" I smiled and nodded.

"I always do." I leaned forward to grab her arm and pulled her towards me until her face landed right on my stomach. Her nails started tickling me there while she cuddled her face to my stomach.

"I'm happy to hear it." Then she kissed my stomach. "Did you want to go again, or call it quits for tonight?" I shrugged.

"I'll decide in a moment." Jillian giggled and kept her face cuddled to my stomach.

"So I take it you had a bad day?"

"Yeah, a little. My wife killed another slave." She looked up at me.

"Again?" I nodded.

"She never wants to spend money to give them food. So they end up starving to death. This is the third slave she's neglected to death. I told her I'm not buying her a new one this time. If she wants a slave, she needs to pay for it herself." Jillian sighed.

"You Romans tend to forget we slaves are still human."

"No, you're not. Slaves are property. Thinking of them as human makes that line really hazy."

"So I'm just property to you?"

"I can't call you that, Jillian. I don't own you. I would like to though." She gave me a weird look.

"I'm not sure I want to work for your wife after everything I've heard." I chuckled.

"Don't worry, I'll feed you. You're my slave after all, so it's my responsibility to feed and care for you." Jillian sighed.

"Please don't tease me, Felix. You know I don't like it when you do." I smiled a little and brought her face closer to mine so I knew she was listening.

"What if I'm not teasing?"

"I doubt your wife would appreciate having me around. I'm sure she'd figure out you bought me so you wouldn't have to pay for sex all the time."

"And who says I would care? You know how I feel about Annabelle."

"That's how you feel, sir. And in all fairness, you have a habit of being a heartless prick with all but your sister." I chuckled.

"I'm nice to you aren't I?" Jillian sighed.

"I'm one of a lucky few I suppose. But still, she might still have love for you even if you don't."

"We were never in love to begin with. I used to like her, but that went away when she started bitching about Lia. I won't take that from her just because she's my wife."

"I think that might be the problem sir. You always put Lia before her."

"I know that's the problem. She gets jealous of the attention I give Lia and that put a huge wedge in our already weak relationship. You don't need to explain this to me, Jillian. I know what's going on in my own house." Jillian sighed.

"If you say so sir."

"Felix." Jillian smiled.

"If you say so, Felix."

"That's better. So would you like me to buy you?"

"It's your money Felix. I can't tell you how to spend it."

"Well, Annabelle gets her slave, I get to have you for free and I'll make sure you're taken care of. So everybody wins wouldn't you say?"

"You're wife doesn't hit does she?" I smiled and petted Jillian's head.

"She doesn't have the energy to slap. If she did, I would know by now." Jillian giggled.

"That's definitely true. I'm amazed she hasn't divorced you if I may say so."

"Honestly, I am too. I guess the financial security she has with me is motivation enough for her to stay. It's not like any respectable man with money would give her a second glance, let alone marry her."

"You're so mean, master." I chuckled.

"Just because I'm buying you doesn't mean you need to start calling me master."

"So you're buying me after all?"

"Of course. It would be nice to have a companion at home. Even if you'll just be a slave."

"Maybe you could even free me and just keep me as a live in servant." I chuckled and held her tighter.

"Barking up a tall tree are we?" Jillian smiled.

"I figured I'd ask." I kissed her forehead.

"Maybe one day. But when I take you home, let's refrain from telling Annabelle that I bought you here. I'd rather avoid an argument if I can help it. It might even be beneficial if you pretend you can't speak Latin. What's your native tongue again?"

"It's Latin. I was taken from Northern Italy. I'm Italian. I just was at the wrong place at the wrong time so I was taken in by soldiers and sold."

"Pretend you're Gaelic or something then. Maybe German. Jillian is a somewhat odd name for an Italian after all."

"If you say so, Felix. But don't you think your wife will find it weird that I don't speak Latin and yet you're always talking to me?"

"I've been in Gaul for almost nine years. For all she knows, I learned Gaelic from the barbarians we used to fight."

"I doubt she's that stupid, Felix." I sighed.

"You tend to give Annabelle more credit than she deserves, frankly."

"And you tend to underestimate her, frankly. I don't know her like you do, but I know that she's got common sense." I looked at Jillian with stern eyes and she became nervous and pulled away from me to bow her head. "Forgive me, sir, that was out of line for a slave."

"Very. Don't question me, Jillian, especially not in front of Annabelle. Though it's my fault I guess. I'm too nice to you."

"Felix?" I sighed.

"I thank you for starters. I shouldn't. It's bad for discipline. Not to mention I let you question me and have your witty retorts. Though the fact alone that a slave is capable of making a witty retort is unsettling enough."

"Please forgive me, sir." I was quiet a moment, then I took her arm and pulled her back to me in a hug.

"Don't worry about it. And just call me Felix. We've been over that. In front of Annabelle, it's master and you address her as mistress, just like any other slave. But when it's just us, call me Felix." I felt her nod into my chest.

"Yes, Felix."

"Good. I'm glad we had this conversation. Now get on all fours." Jillian giggled and did as I told her to and I stayed another hour before I went home. I was sure to let the owner know I would come tomorrow to buy Jillian. Finius didn't look surprised at all that I was buying Jillian. He simply said he was sorry to lose my business and hoped I would be happy having her at home.

When I got home, Annabelle was already asleep and in bed. I was relieved about that and was able to take off most of my day clothes and get into bed to sleep. I woke up that morning to something poking my back. I ignored it for a while until the one poking my back started saying my name. I finally lost patients and turned to look at Annabelle.

"What?"

"Don't what me. Where did you go last night?"

"I told you, I went to my sister's place."

"No you didn't. I went over there and she said you didn't show up. In fact, she was surprised to hear you were home and demanded to know why you didn't visit. Where were you actually?" I rolled my eyes.

"If you must know, I was shopping for a new slave for you. Be grateful that I'm willing to get you another one and stop yelling at me. I'm trying to sleep."

"What slave merchant is open all hours of the night?"

"A slave market near here."

"You mean a whore house?" I rolled my eyes and sat up in bed.

"Don't take that tone with me, Annabelle. You're lucky I'm buying you another slave to begin with. If she's from a whore house, pretend she's from the market and have a big fucking smile on your face when I bring her home."

"I specifically told you I never wanted female slaves. Only homely male slaves."

"Well, I don't want a homely male slave and seeing as I'm the one paying for it, my word is law. What time is it?"

"It's dawn." I groaned and got out of bed.

"Fine. I'm going to work and I'll be home later today with that new slave." I got myself dressed while Annabelle complained a little more about not wanting a female slave and I kept ignoring her, even when she started poking and swatting at me.

I left for the day to go to work for the day, all the while ignoring Annabelle when she was nagging me. The work day seemed to go by really slowly today. All orders seemed to go in one ear and out the other when. I followed, but I barely knew what I was doing anymore. It was probably because I was planning on buying Jillian today and I was really nervous. I wasn't sure how Annabelle would treat her and that's what concerned me. I wasn't home most of the day and could be stationed somewhere else at any time, so that left all that time for Annabelle to do or say things that I wouldn't approve of. I tried keeping all that at the back of my mind through my work day, but it was admittedly a little difficult. When the work day was finally over, I went straight to the whore house and said hi to Finius and he already had Jillian ready to leave and all I needed to do was pay for her.

"So does your wife know about me now?"

"Yes and no."

"What do you mean yes and no?" I sighed.

"I told her I bought you from a whore house and such but I haven't gone more in-depth than that if that's what you're asking." Jillian sighed.

"She's not going to like me, Felix."

"So? If I decide to buy you, it's my money, so she can't say anything against it. Besides, I'll make sure she's not mean to you alright."

"That's not so much what concerns me Felix." I stopped walking and she looked at me to listen.

"Then what concerns you, Jillian?" Jillian was quiet a moment, but did finally speak.

"You'll want to continue…you know….sleeping with me, am I right? How will you get away with that?"

"Jillian, you'll be a house slave. A house slave and another woman are two different things. If I decide to go up your skirt, it's nothing serious. If I were to find myself another free woman and cheat, that's different and she'd have reason to be upset. Since you're a slave, there's no reason for her to be upset." Jillian sighed. "What?"

"I'm not sure if you and Annabelle just plain hate each other or if you're just an asshole." I laughed a little.

"I think it's probably a little of both. I like you though. So you don't have to worry about that." Jillian smiled and actually hugged me. I was a little surprised, but I hugged her back.

"I know, Felix. And thank you for what you're doing."

"What am I doing?"

"Taking me away from one evil to something far less bad. I'm still a slave I know, but it's better than before." I smiled and patted her head.

"I'm happy that you're happy."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Now let's get home. I'm sure there's some laundry that needs to be done that's been neglected for too long." Jillian giggled and started walking with me.

"Work, work, work. That's all I'm good for." I chuckled.

"There's plenty else you're good for." After saying that, I gave her bum a quick spank and she laughed a little while we kept walking.

"You're so filthy." I gave her a weird look.

"Filthy?" She nodded at me with a smile.

"Yes, Felix. You're very filthy." After a moment, I understood what she meant and laughed with her.

"I thought you enjoyed that about me."

"It has its benefits, yes." I chuckled and kissed the top of her head before we walked into the housing complex where I lived. Everyone that lived there saw Jillian, assumed she was a new slave, and got back to their own menial task that they were doing. I showed Jillian where my house was and escorted her up the stairs to get to my house and opened the door, seeing Annabelle cooking something.

"Annabelle." Annabelle turned when she heard me, taking the food off the heat of the fire. "This is Jillian. She is our new slave." Annabelle gave Jillian a bitter, unwelcoming stare.

"Did you actually buy her from the whore house or did you just tell me that to make me angry?"

"What does it matter where I bought her? The point is that I bought her. You're lucky to get one at all with the way you've been talking to me. And I expect you to be responsible and actually take care of this one."

"I'm not taking care of some harlot you bought so you could have free sex." While Jillian stayed at the door, I walked over to Annabelle and spoke her in a harsh tone.

"You wanted a slave, Annabelle, you got a slave and you'll be damn grateful that I was willing to get you a new one in the first place. Now take care of this one or I'll make you do her work and she can sit on her ass all day and do nothing."

"I don't sit on my ass and do nothing all day!"

"Well, I don't see anything in this fucking house getting down unless you have a slave doing the chores for you."

"I visit friends through the day, Felix. Unlike you, I have a social life outside my sister and prostitutes." This time I hit her. I didn't like the idea of hitting women, but I'd lost all my patients with her and wanted her to be quiet, so I hit her clear across the face. She hit her head against the wall and lost balance for a moment. Jillian went to her side to try and help her, but Annabelle hit her hands away from her and stood when she was able to, covering the spot where I'd hit her with her hand.

"You know better than to speak to me like that, Annabelle." After that, Annabelle stormed out of the house without a word to me and I walked to the pan and put it back on the fire. I looked at Jillian, who was standing still, not saying a word. "What's the matter?"

"You're upset. I thought I should stay out of your way for now."

"I'm mad at Annabelle, not you. Now don't be so weary and come over here. This should be about done cooking."

Again, Jillian was a little cautious as she approached me again. When she was close enough, I handed her the pan and let her keep cooking and went to bed and told her to rouse me once my dinner was ready. Jillian only nodded and did as she was told. As I'd anticipated, it didn't take long for dinner to be ready. When it was ready, Jillian came over and nudged me awake gently, telling me dinner was ready. She stood off to the corner while I ate, but I made her sit down and eat with me. It was weird having her stand off to the side while I ate. After an hour when Annabelle still wasn't home, Jillian smiled nervously.

"What's wrong?"

"She's been gone a while. You're not worried?"

"She's at her father's house. There's nothing to worry about. She's a big girl. I know she doesn't exactly show it, but she can take care of herself. She just doesn't want to when she can just have me take care of her." Jillian sighed and took my empty plate to clean it.

"You would know best, I suppose."

"Don't worry, Jillian, I know this woman. You have nothing to worry about."

Jillian didn't seem like she was ready to believe that, but I didn't feel like trying to convince her otherwise. It wasn't even something I should have to do for her. Instead of talking, I just took her with me to bed and made her forget, or at least help me forget, about what had happened that night. Before she fell asleep, she wandered over to her little bed in the house that we used for slaves and I got dressed before going back to sleep. I woke up to the smell of eggs cooking. I opened my eyes and saw Jillian cooking breakfast with Annabelle sitting at the table waiting expectantly.

"When did you get home?" They both looked at me and Annabelle still had a bit of a sneer on her face.

"Around dawn." I yawned and pulled myself up from bed.

"I'm preparing you some eggs too if you want some, master."

"Thanks, Jillian." After I said that, Annabelle looked at me like I was nuts.

"She's a house slave. Why are you thanking her?" I rolled my eyes and stood from bed.

"I suppose I'm in a generous mood this morning." Annabelle didn't look convinced, but she finally let it go and changed the subject, but the change was hardly something I wanted to hear.

"My father is joining us for dinner tonight."

"Come again."

"He doesn't have any food in the house and he could use a good meal."

"Tell him to stop gambling and fucking away his money and get a job. He'll have plenty of food in the house then."

"He's coming over, Felix, whether you like it or not."

"Then Lia and Florinian are coming too."

"No they aren't. I can't make food for that many people."

"Make Jillian do it. You never cook anyway."

"I cook all the time!"

"Do you now? Tell me, when was the last time you cooked?"

"I cooked yesterday. I would've finished if you'd not hit me."

"I don't have to defend my actions to you, Annabelle."

"I still don't want Lia visiting."

"Well, that's just too fucking bad. I haven't seen her in eight months. She's coming over." Annabelle gave me a dirty look and walked out of the house to go bitch about me to one of her friends from across the complex. Jillian finished the eggs and put them on the table.

"You're eggs are ready, Felix."

"Good." I walked from bed to the table and began eating. Jillian was silent for a short time, then she spoke.

"You're so cruel, Felix." I sighed and dropped my fork on my plate.

"Don't start arguing with me, Jillian. I bought you for a slave, not as a second wife." Her head fell just a little.

"Yes, master."

"I need to leave soon. I'm guarding the Northern Gate today and I won't be home until after dark. I'm going to give you directions to Lia's house and I want you to let her know that she and Florinian are welcome to have dinner here tonight. When you're done with that, go grocery shopping. Buy lamb. I'll give you some money."

"Yes, master."

"Felix." Jillian was silent this time, not correcting herself. I looked at her and she looked sad. I groaned and rested my head in my hands. "Damn it, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Felix."

"Just tell me, Jillian. I'm not a fucking mind reader." Jillian was quiet again. I waited patiently for her to talk and she finally did.

"It's nothing, Felix. You wouldn't be interested."

"I'll tell you whether or not I'm interested." Again silent, I waited for her to talk, and it was a moment before she finally did, and now she looked like she was about to cry.

"Will you….will you start treating me like that? The way you treat Annabelle, I mean."

"Is that what's bothering you?"

"Yes, that's what's bothering me. I've only just gotten here and I'm starting to understand just how not one sided this feud between you two is. You always blame her for everything, but in turn, you're cold as ice to her. I'm beginning to wonder if Lia really has as much to do with this as you think. Maybe it started with that, but it's gotten worse because the moment she felt threatened by Lia, you shut down on her and she's gone unloved for all that time."

"So you're a philosopher now?" She sighed.

"Never mind, Felix." I stood up from my chair and Jillian jumped a little from being startled and stepped back. This bugged me immensely and I couldn't be mad anymore. I didn't want her to be scared of me. I walked over to her and I could tell she was reluctantly staying in place. I brought my hand to her face and felt her start shaking.

"I won't hurt you. Don't let how I treat Annabelle make you think I would harm you."

"It doesn't matter so much. I'm a slave."

"Regardless, I won't harm you." With her face still in my hand, I brought her to me and kissed her.

**Narrator's POV**

When Felix kissed Jillian, she finally calmed and rested her weight against his body, falling slave to his kiss. They always turned her to mush, even before she ever loved him. She could never tell him. He would never understand. And she would be condemned and cursed by the gods if she ever dared tell Felix how she felt. So for two years, she said nothing. She simply enjoyed all the time they'd shared, lovemaking and talking in all, and accepted it as all she would ever have. Felix abruptly pushed her away and walked away as his wife walked into the room.

"I'm sending Jillian out to invite Lia and to buy some lamb for dinner tonight." Annabelle glared at Jillian a moment, then right back at Felix.

"You're giving her money? I don't think so. I'll buy the meat. And I want her to stay home and do some cleaning."

"If I don't send her to Lia, you'll never invite her. She's leaving and then she'll come back here and start cleaning and start dinner around dusk."

"I don't want Lia coming."

"And I told you she is coming, so stop complaining about it and get enough lamb for everyone." Then Felix looked at Jillian. "Jillian, to get to Lia's house, you take a left when you leave the complex and keep going straight until you see a bar. There's a house across from that bar and that's where she lives. Tell her you're a slave of mine and that she's invited to dinner tonight. As soon as you're done with that, come back and get done what needs to get done, alright. Annabelle will tell you what you need to do for the rest of the day. And have dinner ready when I get back."

That said, Felix walked out to go to the gate, leaving Jillian and Annabelle alone together. Annabelle and Jillian stared at each other for a few minutes, Annabelle seemingly trying to stare Jillian down. With nothing to say, Annabelle got straight to her point.

"I don't want Lia here. That girl's a nuisance in this house and I won't have it." Jillian was quiet. She could speak to Felix, but not Annabelle. But as if the world were made of convenience, Felix walked back into the house and walked over to Jillian. "What are you doing home?"

"I had a hunch you would contradict me, so I came back to take her with me."

"I'm not buying anything for dinner then." Felix smirked and, as if to spite Annabelle, reached for the pouch at his hip and pulled out a few coins.

"Here, Jillian. That should buy enough meat. If not, tell Lia I'll pay her back later. Tell Lia I told you to stay at her house until her husband comes home, then you can all come back here. I'll be home some time after that, so have dinner ready when I get back."

Jillian managed to nod once before Felix pulled her with him out of the house. Annabelle didn't say anything or look like she was about to say something. So they were able to walk out of the house without sounding the chorus of her discontent. She hadn't felt like arguing further anyway. Once they were out of the house, Felix let go of Jillian's hand and she kept following him to the entrance of the complex. When they were there, Felix stopped and Jillian did the same, waiting for Felix to speak.

"You remember where I told you Lia's house was?" Jillian nodded. "Good. When you get there, stay with her until her husband gets back home. And as I said, buy lamb before you come home with them."

"Is there a specific way you like your lamb?"

"Pink in the middle. It's juicier that way."

"Yes, Felix. Any specific cut you want?"

"Leg and ribs. Those are my favorites and Lia loves the ribs. I'm pretty sure we have an adequate spice selection, but I'll give you some extra money for spices if we don't." Felix reached into his pouch and pulled out a few more coins. "This should cover it. I don't know what spices go on lamb, but I'm sure Lia will know."

"Alright, Felix." Felix smiled at Jillian a moment, then he bent down and kissed her forehead.

"And don't worry. Lia's a sweet woman, so she'll be kind to you. And give Felix a kiss on the head for me."

"I will, Felix." Felix chuckled a moment and Jillian boldly reached close to him and kissed his lips. It was fast and he didn't appear to be displeased with it. In fact, he smiled just a little more.

"I need to go now. You be good."

Felix walked away to go to the gate and Jillian waited for him to be out of sight before she walked the opposite direction to Lia's home. It didn't take long at all to find where Felix had directed her. Contrary to most slaves, she could read well enough, so she knew the bar when she saw the sign. Jillian walked to the front door of the home and knocked, not waiting very long before it was answered. The woman Jillian presumed to be Lia opened the door and had a slightly surprised smile on her face.

"Hello. May I help you?"

"Yes, my name is Jillian. I'm a slave of Felix. He sent me here to invite you to dinner tonight." Lia's smile brightened more.

"Dinner? That would be wonderful. I can't believe I haven't seen him in eight months. A visit would be delightful."

"And he also asked me to stay here until your husband came home. I think he didn't want me to be left alone with my mistress." Instead of being appalled or upset like Jillian had expected, Lia sighed. Lia was all too aware of Annabelle's neglectful habit.

"I don't blame him I suppose. His slaves are usually fairly homely and you're far from. And she would never feed you regardless."

"I hope I'm not imposing." Lia shook her head.

"Not at all. I might ask you to do a few things for me today. It would be nice to not have to do chores so I could spend most of my time with Felix. He's a growing boy and he needs me." Jillian took a moment to look inside the house at Felix, who was on the floor playing with a wooden lion toy.

"He's a handsome young boy."

"He is. Please, come in. I was just getting ready to make some breakfast. Could you make a few eggs?"

"Of course mistress."

"Oh, just call me Lia. I have a feeling Felix demands you use first name with him."

"How do you know?"

"He would never waist money on you if he didn't like you. And it was a hunch. I know he spends more time at the whore house than I would like, but if you came out of it, I suppose there must be some good in it." Jillian smiled, still a bit weary. She'd heard nothing but wonderful things about Lia, but that was from Felix point of view.

"Thank you for saying…Lia." Lia smiled happily and closed the door behind me when Jillian walked into the house.

"The stove is to your right and I have some eggs out and ready to cook. Make some for yourself too."

"Thank you, Lia." Lia walked over to Felix and began centering her attention to him while Jillian walked to the stove to begin making the eggs for them all.

"So tell me, Jillian. When did you start working for Felix?"

"He actually just got me."

"I figured. The other slave died about a month or so ago. She's never been the most nurturing person in the world. I think that's why Felix tries so hard to avoid getting her pregnant." Jillian was silent a moment before finally speaking.

"So he does want children?" Lia gave Jillian an odd look, but smiled.

"I think so. Certainly not with Annabelle, but seeing as she's the one he married, there's nothing he can do about it except divorce her." Jillian served the eggs and Lia walked to the table with Felix in her arms. When Lia and her son were sitting at the table, Jillian took the opportunity to speak.

"Do you think he would?" Again, Lia looked at Jillian a little strangely, but smiled and answered.

"I'm not sure. She's the one that doesn't want to get a divorce, and Felix wouldn't divorce her unless he had a reason besides disliking her. He thinks that divorcing over something like that would be in insufficient reason for divorce, and the court system would agree regardless. They prefer reasons like infidelity and an inability on the husband's part to provide for the family. It all depends." Jillian fought a sigh and kept her attention on the eggs that she suddenly didn't want anymore.

Lia paid most of her attention to Felix, so Jillian sat at the table poking at her egg absentmindedly with Lia speaking motherese in the background. Jillian decided she wasn't in the mood to eat anything and took her plate and untouched egg to the bucket with water. She tossed her egg out the window for the stray animals to nibble on and cleaned her plate and placed it on a towel to dry. Lia noticed and looked surprised.

"You aren't hungry?" Jillian shook her head.

"I lost my appetite. I'm sorry to waist." Lia stared at Jillian a moment and her eyes widened for one second when something came to her.

"Was it because of what I said?" Jillian was silent and held her head down. Lia put Felix down so he could play and walked to Jillian. "How long have you two been lovers?" Jillian shook her head.

"We're not lovers. I was simply his favorite whore. And he decided to buy me because he wanted me for free I suppose. I'm sure he'll want something new after a while." Jillian kept her head down and sounded sad when she spoke.

"You think so?" Jillian nodded.

"I'm just property. That's all. Nothing out of the ordinary with sleeping with property." Lia took a gentle hold of Jillian's chin and forced her to look up at her and Lia saw the sad look in Jillian's eyes.

"You love him I take it." Jillian fought the tears and simply nodded. "I suppose it's not unusual. If he thought to buy you for himself, I would assume he'd be nice to you. He's always kind to people he likes. It's people he doesn't like that are usually the targets of his sarcastic and cruel nature."

"I know that. I've seen how cruel he can sometimes be first hand."

"But it's never been at you."

"Not in years. When we first met, he was a little cold, but he was teasing me for being a fresh whore and was really pleased I had a cherry to take. But since then, he grew a liking for me and he's been kind. I would even go so far as to say he'd started….making love to me." Lia smiled.

"I wouldn't doubt it."

"But he doesn't love me, I know. That's something I'll have to live with. But what we have now; that's more than what I would ever expect to begin with. It's more than I could hope for and I'm grateful." Lia was quiet a moment and spoke when a thought came to her mind.

"What if I talked to Felix? He isn't happy with Annabelle. You know that as much as I do. If he knew, he might realize he loves you too. Then he could divorce Annabelle and free and marry you." Lia got Jillian's full attention that time.

"Why do you care so much?" Lia smiled, knowing Jillian wasn't trying to be rude.

"I know Felix. He's been my best friend since we were little. And anyone who can make him happy is good enough for me, even if she's a slave." Jillian smiled, but lost it quickly.

"He wouldn't. He doesn't love me. But thank you for thinking of me. You really are as kind as Felix says." Lia smiled wearily.

"You don't give him enough credit, Jillian. He's a lot like our parents at times. With me, he never had trouble being kind. But with others, he's not good at expressing himself in a loving way. I guess you could say that sort of thing is saved for a select few. From what I can tell, you're one of those select few." Jillian smiled a little.

"I can dream." Neither spoke about the matter further. Jillian didn't want to get her hopes up needlessly and Lia didn't want to either. She didn't know enough about the situation to intervene and thought it would be best to learn more before she takes any type of action. She had a good feeling about it, but she decided it was best to be safe rather than sorry.

As Felix had asked, Jillian stayed at Lia's home and helped her with several things around the house that needed to be done. Lia was thrilled that the allowed free time made her able to spend a little more time with Felix. Half way through the afternoon, she started contemplating getting herself a slave. But that was of course something she would have to speak with Florinian about. Jillian remembered half way through the day to tell Lia that Felix wanted her to buy some lamb before she went home with then that night.

"We should probably do that now. If we wait until later, there'll be a huge crowd and we'll just be late getting there."

"He said to get ribs and leg. I've actually never cooked lamb before, so I was hoping you could help me." Lia smiled.

"Of course. I'll help you make it nice and rare just the way he likes it. That should win a few points in his book." Jillian smiled and sighed.

"You're too sweet for your own good I notice." Lia giggled.

"Like I said, anyone's better than Annabelle. I'm only trying to make my brother happy. And if he was a loyal customer of yours for a long time and willing to pay the extra money to buy you for himself, there must be something special about you. And that's all it will take I think."

"Like I said. You're far too sweet, Lia." Lia giggled.

"I like to think I'm just a nice girl with a little too much time on her hands." Jillian and Lia shared a laugh as they walked out the door of the house and made their way to the meat market together.

As Lia predicted, there wasn't a large group around the meat market yet. That usually started about an hour before the general dinner hour for most families. Once the meat was bought, Lia took Jillian to another part of the market where they sold spices and picked out the ones she remembered Felix liking the most in the hopes that she might be able to get her more points with Felix as she liked to put it. They went back to Lia's home once they had everything and waited out the rest of the day for Florinian to get back home so they could leave for Felix home and begin dinner.

"So how long have you and Florinian been married now?"

"About three years. It'll be four within the next two months."

"Wow. To have been married so long."

"Three years isn't long. But it's been a happy three years and I'm hoping for it to be a happy rest of our lives." Jillian smiled.

"Everyone hopes for that I would imagine."

"I would imagine too."

"How old is Felix?"

"Which one?" Jillian giggled.

"Both I suppose." Lia smiled and answered.

"My brother Felix is twenty four. My son Felix is two and a half."

"What made you decide to name your son after Felix?" Lia shrugged.

"It seemed natural for me. Felix and I have always been close and Florinian and Felix became good friends while we were courting. So we named our son after him."

"Sounds logical to me." Jillian giggled. "Imagine what it will be like when he's older. He won't know whether you mean him or his uncle when they're in the same room."

"It's already like that. Felix doesn't know many words yet, but he knows his name. I say Felix, and they both look at me asking what I want. It's cute honestly."

"I'm sure it is." Jillian and Lia laughed together, then Lia looked out the window. She noticed that the crowds outside were growing thicker.

"It looks like Florinian will be home soon. The afternoon rush is starting to come by."

"I've been meaning to ask, why isn't he home now? He works at the bar across the street doesn't he?" Lia smiled.

"He's not there at night. His other employees handle the bar at that hour. During the day, he handles shipments and wine imports brought in by drovers and such. And there's always people to serve even during the daylight hours." Jillian shrugged.

"If that's the case."

"And I asked him to be free at night so I wouldn't be alone with Felix at night. He gets cranky even during the daylight hours." Jillian shrugged.

"If that's the case."

"And I asked him to be free at night so I wouldn't be alone with Felix at night. He gets cranky when his father isn't home." Jillian smiled.

"Spoiled little thing isn't he?" Lia giggled and cuddled Felix to her close while he kept playing with his you.

"I don't mind. He's my spoiled little thing." Jillian and Lia giggled and looked at Felix admiring his youthful adorable face. Shortly after, Florinian walked into the house and saw Jillian, a little surprised.

"Lia, who's this?"

"This is Jillian. She's Felix new slave."

"What happened to….what was his name?"

"I don't think he had a name. But he died about a month or so ago. I told you didn't I?"

"I must not have heard you. What's she here for?"

"Felix wanted her to invite us to dinner tonight and spend the day with us. He didn't want Annabelle to pester her."

"What's he planning to do every day after this?" Lia shrugged.

"I don't think he thought it out that far." Florinian laughed gently, making Jillian smile in return.

"Yeah, that sounds like him." Florinian looked back at Jillian with a kind smile. "Well, if Felix needs to send you over from time to time, I wouldn't mind the free extra help with house chores." Jillian smiled.

"I'm sure Felix would be more than happy to lend me to you." Florinian looked a little surprised and turned to Lia.

"She calls him Felix?" Lia nodded.

"He prefers it from what she tells me. He's really fond of her."

"I never knew Felix to take to people like that."

"They've known each other a while. He bought her from that whore house that's not far from here." Florinian looked at Jillian a moment studiously.

"Leave it to Felix to find a diamond in the rough I suppose. So what did he send her here for besides protection from Annabelle?"

"Dinner, my love."

"Right, dinner. When do we leave?"

"Now if that's alright with you my love." Florinian shrugged.

"I'm content. Let's get a few things and we'll go. What are we having?" Jillian answered.

"Leg and ribs of lamb. Felix requested that." Florinian ginned.

"He may have his poor points, but the man always did have good taste. Now if only I could get him to like shell fish. I can't count how many times I've tried to get the man to taste an oyster or a muscle, you'd think I was telling him to eat from a leper's hands." Jillian giggled.

"I know. One day at the brothel, the man who ran the place, Finius, had his slaves prepare crab and clams he'd just gotten from a drover relative of his. Felix smelled the fish and wanted nothing to do with it." Jillian giggled again. "He said he was leaving if I dared partake in something that smelled so fishy." Lia giggled with Jillian.

"He never did like fish. I could never get why aside from the smell."

"That's probably all it took for him to never want it." Lia nodded.

"You'd probably be right about that." Florinian waited quietly while the girls spoke, then took over when Lia finished her statement.

"You're awfully talkative for a slave. I take it Felix prefers you talk to him a lot?" Jillian nodded.

"He prefers me over Annabelle with concern to conversation."

"I would imagine so. I can't remember the last time those two had a loving word."

"They never did, my love. As I recall, he married her because she was someone your mother introduced to him." Florinian sighed.

"He could have easily said she wasn't of his taste. Mother would have understood. Now she feels horrible about the lack of love in the marriage. Maybe I can talk to her and she can get Felix a new bridal candidate." Jillian's heart stopped when she heard that. Lia noticed and took matters in her hands.

"Don't be silly Florinian. She would be the primal beneficiary if they divorced on the grounds of Felix being unfaithful."

"Are you saying we should try and find Annabelle a new boyfriend then? Place the blame on her so Felix could walk away with his worldly goods?" Lia giggled.

"It's worth a try. Though I can't imagine how difficult it would be to find a new lover for that woman. I'd sooner give her to one of those horse people." Florinian laughed.

"They make good money if they work for the Patrician type. You know how those wealthy cretins love their horses."

"They're not always paid well regardless. But I'm indifferent either way."

"I never knew you would be so unkind to anyone."

"I never would. I'm simply speaking out of frustration for the woman. I would rather she simply pooffed out of existence. Of course, the world doesn't work that way." Florinian turned his attention from Lia to Jillian.

"Please gather a few of the baby's things." Jillian nodded and did as she was told. Lia took a moment to let him know they'd shopped that day, then she asked Jillian to take care of the spices they bought and Florinian would take the meat. Again, Jillian nodded her head respectfully and went about her chore. But when they left and were halfway to Felix house, Lia stopped a moment.

"Florinian, you didn't grab the ribs." Florinian looked at what he was holding and realized it was only the leg.

"Shit, I guess I didn't. It wasn't with this."

"I must have put it somewhere else and forgotten. Jillian." Jillian looked at Lia. "Go on to Felix house. Me and Florinian need to go back and look for the ribs. We'll be as fast as possible." Jillian nodded her head and started walking when they made their way back in the opposite direction.

Jillian took her time getting home. More meandering that really walking. She wasn't too keen on going home alone when she knew Felix wasn't home yet. Annabelle would undoubtedly want to her have two cents when she saw Jillian come in especially with spices she knew Annabelle didn't want her to buy. Jillian started trying to think of an excuse that might get her in less trouble, though she doubted that would help much. She probably wouldn't believe her if she told her that Lia bought the spices. Once at the entrance, Jillian breathed in and walked into the complex and up the two flights of stairs to get to the house. Once she was there, she heard voices. One was clearly Annabelle. The other was a man's voice, but it wasn't Felix. The voice seemed slightly higher than Felix. Tentatively, Jillian walked closer until she could see through the window. When she could, she saw Annabelle was talking to a man that Jillian didn't recognize. He was a fare brown haired man with an oddly feminine looking face.

Jillian listened as hard as she could to hear them. At first, the conversation was uninteresting and normal. They were discussing family life. The questions mostly concerned spouses, which Jillian initially found a little strange to begin with taking into account the tone of their voices. It wasn't cheerful like one would expect a conversation like this to be. It was sad as if both their marriages were miserable. After a moment, the conversation changed to one that was far more disturbing to Jillian. Annabelle was the one to change the course to the topic so bothersome.

"I can't divorce him. I'd lose too much."

"I'm willing to divorce my wife."

"Think, Albinus. Think of what would happen if people, the court, knew about us. Both of us would get out with hardly anything. And if we try to divorce strictly because of discontent with the spouse, the one who makes the complaint gets the least of the property held during marriage. I know what I'm talking about, Albinus. I've researched this endlessly."

"So are you saying we should kill them?" Annabelle shook her head.

"No, that's too extreme. If we do that, there'll be a mourning period and we won't be allowed to get married. And people would think it suspicious that we're trying to get married right after our late spouse passing. And that could turn into another horrible outcome that neither of us want. We have to do what will benefit us both with minimal lose of assets."

"You think too much sometimes, you know that Annabelle?" Annabelle giggled faintly.

"It's always served me well in the past. And trust me, it will serve us right too in the end."

"Do you think there could be a way to place the blame on Felix and Drusa. I can't imagine that a man like Felix wouldn't cheat on you."

"He's cheated plenty. The problem is that it was with whores. That's nothing the courts will deem as divorceable. It would have to be with a free woman and I need to have caught them. Same thing with Drusa. If she's fucking one of the kitchen slaves, the court won't even shake a stick at that."

"Then how will we pin the blame on them?" Annabelle sighed.

"I don't know yet. But I'll think of something, my love." There was a moment of silence as the two shared a clearly passionate kiss. Jillian stayed out of sight and waited. "You should go. It's around the time Florinian gets off work. They'll be here soon." They shared another kiss. "Bye Albinus."

"Bye Annabelle. I'll see you tomorrow."

"No, not tomorrow. Felix will almost certainly be home tomorrow. The day after, certainly."

"Of course." Albinus walked out of the house and glanced at Jillian before walking down the stairs to leave the complex. Annabelle walked out to see him leave, but her face became furious when she saw Jillian there. She grabbed a hold of Jillian and closed the doors behind them and locked them before turning back to Jillian.

"What did you hear?" Jillian backed away.

"Nothing."

"You're lying. What did you hear?" Jillian was silent a moment. When she didn't answer, Annabelle continued. "You don't tell Felix, you hear me? He's to never know about this. If you tell him, so mark my words you'll pay for it. And even if he believes you, it'll be your word against mine." Jillian became angry with Annabelle and let out her temper.

"And who do you think he'll more readily believe, Annabelle? His bitch wife he's hated since marriage or the slave girl who gives him what he wants?" Annabelle raised her hand to hit Jillian, but there was a bang on the door.

"Annabelle, open up. It's Lia and Florinian. Why is you door locked?" Jillian took the opportunity to rush away from Annabelle and unlocked the door, letting Lia and her husband in.

"Forgive me, Lia. I was having a private conversation with my slave." Lia giggled.

"You won't waste food on them, but you'll readily waste your breath on them. Funny." Annabelle looked like she wanted to say something, but she held her tongue while Lia got the meat together in one of the large bowls and brought the olive oil to the table. "Jillian, bring over the spices we bought will you? And mince up the garlic as fine as you can get it."

Jillian did as Lia told and got the spices from the counter she'd left them at and started mincing the several cloves of garlic Lia had taken out for her to mince finely. Once they were minced to a near paste, Lia and Jillian covered both meats with the garlic that had already been rubbed with olive oil and spices. Already, the entire house smelled intensely of garlic before they even started cooking the meat. Felix was beneficial enough to have an oven in his kitchen, so Lia and Jillian used that to cook the ribs and used the one downstairs for the leg. It took a total of three hours to cook the meat, mostly because the low eat provided by the oven made the process take longer, especially sense Lia was a complete perfectionist when it came to cooking lamb. Once it was all done, Jillian brought the leg upstairs while Lia got the ribs out of the oven upstairs and placed everything down. They used the time it took for the meat to sit to make some onion side dish that Felix really liked.

"So when is Felix getting here? I'm starving." Lia smiled and hugged Florinian and Felix.

"I'm sure he won't be much longer. He said he'd be home by sundown and it's sundown now."

"Then shouldn't he be back now?" Lia giggled and kissed Florinian.

"Be patient my honey." Florinian did as Lia said and tried making pleasant conversation to pass the time. Thankfully, Felix came home not long after that and Florinian's face lit up.

"Thank the Gods. I was beginning to think you would never come home." Felix smiled at Florinian.

"Sorry. My superior needed to talk to us all about the rest of the week."

"Are you home tomorrow then?" Felix nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be home." Not bothering to say anything to Annabelle or make any gesture, Felix went to the table ready for dinner. "I notice you made onions." Lia giggled.

"I don't know what it is with you, but you love potent vegetables."

"I don't think garlic is a vegetable."

"It doesn't matter, Felix. That stuff's potent all the same. As are onions." Felix shrugged.

"I just like it." Lia giggled.

"It's definitely cheaper taste than mine." Florinian laughed.

"Don't I know it. Whenever a grocer has pomegranates in stock, she buys as many as she can afford. She even has a lamb recipe that uses pomegranates as a marinade. She turns it into a paste."

"It's more like a thick syrup. And I never heard you complain about it."

"I admit I like it, I'm just saying." Lia and Florinian smiled at each other a moment, then Lia looked at Jillian.

"And your new slave was very helpful, Felix. Thanks for sending her to me."

"Think nothing of it, Lia. I know my nephew takes up a lot of your time, and I thought you could use a little help to take some things off your hands."

"That was very sweet of you Felix. I got a lot more done and Felix was happy that I was freer through the day." Felix smiled and looked at his nephew.

"I bet he was." Jillian smiled and Felix smiled back at her when their eyes met. Jillian felt her stomach turn a little. Not in disgust at all. It was more an affection in the form of butterflies in her stomach. "Should I let you have her every day? I'm sure she'd be more than happy to." Jillian nodded her head in confirmation.

"Maybe from time to time. I'll let you know when I'd like to burrow her." Annabelle interrupted the conversation.

"If you want a slave, it's not expensive to buy your own." Lia looked at Annabelle.

"We don't have money for that, Annabelle. Felix is an expensive little boy. Children in general are expensive."

"You shouldn't spoil him so, then."

"It's not a matter of spoiling him. It's a matter of taking care of him." Wanting to end the argument before it started, Florinian stood and grabbed a knife, interrupting the women.

"So Felix, which do you want first? Ribs or a slice of leg?" Felix shrugged.

"Surprise me." Florinian smiled and cut some ribs and a little of the leg meat and got some onions for Felix and put the made up plate of food in front of him. Then he started platting for everyone else. Once everyone had their food, they began to eat. But Annabelle brought something up first.

"Why is she eating with us?" Everyone looked at Jillian, who hadn't even realized what she was doing until now.

"I'm sorry. I'll eat downstairs." Felix spoke.

"Don't worry about it. You started your dinner here, so finish it here." Annabelle shook her head.

"She's a slave, not a guest. Eat outside."

"I said she can eat here."

"And I said no. I'm not arguing with you on this Felix. Either she eats outside or she doesn't eat at all. And why is she getting lamb for that matter? Lamb's expensive." Felix sighed.

"Annabelle, when you pay for food, you can decide what and where she eats. But I pay for that stuff. So I say what and where she can eat. I say she can eat lamb at the table with us."

"Damn it, Felix, she's not our equal, she's the free house slave." Trying to defuse the situation, Jillian stood up.

"I'll eat outside, master." Felix tried telling her to sit back down, but she grabbed her plate and went downstairs to eat. There were a few slaves already outside, some sleeping, others fiddling in some manner.

She managed to eat a little of her dinner, but it wasn't long before she simply couldn't stand to eat anything. She had ignored Felix while walking down to the bench near the shared stove, and was nervous that Felix would have a few words to say to her a little later. Felix wasn't one to be ignored and he didn't take well to it when it happened. She wasn't sure if Felix would be upset that she didn't finish her food. Not wanting to risk it under the current circumstances, Jillian took a moment to wonder to the front of the complex where some stray dogs would stay and threw them the meat. The dogs flocked around it and enjoyed themselves while Jillian went back to the bench she'd previously occupied. She looked up to the sky while waiting for the scolding she knew was coming.

The moon was full that night. It was bright in the sky and outshined all the stars that were just as visible. To pass the time, Jillian looked at all the stars and tried to make shapes with them in her head. She managed to find a lion, a rabbit, and several other animals and objects. The lion took up the most amount of time. While she was staring at the sky, she started thinking about what happened this afternoon. She'd never actually agreed to not tell Felix about it, but she wasn't sure if she should. It wasn't something Felix would care much about. At least, that's based on what Jillian knew about Felix. Jillian was the one that was upset about the matter. Felix had his moments, true, but he was a good man. He didn't deserve to be emasculated like that. Felix probably wouldn't see it quite like that, but it was the principle of the matter in her eyes.

It was funny that she would care more about the matter than the one being cheated on, but she couldn't help feeling a sense of contempt for Annabelle. As she was thinking, Jillian realized she was being hypocritical. Maybe because it was the logic he grew up with, a slave didn't count as a person, and hence, one couldn't cheat with a slave. But she remembered what it was like to be free and then become a slave. She was still a person who was having an intimate relationship with a married man. Slave or not, that was the blatant truth. But even thinking about it that way, she was still sad about the whole situation. But Jillian wasn't sure what hurt her more; seeing the man she loved was being cheated on by a wife with some possibly horrible plans for ending the marriage, or the fact that the man she loved would still treat a divorce as cautiously as ever. Then she hurt even more knowing that him getting divorced from Annabelle wouldn't change much. Even after that, she would be his slave. Nothing more. It was still to hope for any more than that, no matter how much she wanted to. Jillian didn't stop looking at the sky until she heard a door open from the top floor and Felix walked out with Lia, her son, and Florinian while talking to them pleasantly. They walked down the stairs together and Lia wondered over to me with a smile on her face. Felix continued leading Florinian to the complex entrance.

"I know it's hard, but try not to let Annabelle get to you." I smiled and nodded. Then I lost my smile when the more pressing topic came to my mind.

"How mad is Felix? At me I mean." Lia sighed.

"He's annoyed. You gave Annabelle a moment of victory and he's mad about it. I can promise you he'll give you a piece of his mind about it, but he won't hurt you if that's what you're worried about."

"I guess I deserve that."

"Don't worry. It'll be fine. I'll see you next time Felix lends you to me." Lia gave Jillian a quick one armed hug and ran off to go to Florinian so they could go home. Once they were out of the complex, Felix looked at Jillian to note where she was sitting, then walked over to her with his arms crossed. He didn't start talking until he was close enough for the conversation to be strictly between them.

"You know, I know I'm lenient with you, but I would rather you didn't complete disregard me."

"I'm sorry. I didn't want you two fighting anymore. I thought it would be easier for everyone if I just left." Felix breathed out heavily through his nose and walked over to her to take a seat next to her. First, he grabbed her clear plate and tossed it into a bucket of water before sitting down next to her. "Is that the neighbor's?"

"One more plate for them." Felix ran his fingers through his hair once. "You ignored me. I'm sure you understand that I'm upset about that." Jillian nodded.

"Yes, and I'm sorry. It'll never happen again." Felix sighed.

"You didn't listen to me because you're scared of Annabelle. I get it. But remember this. I'm the one who bought you and have primary say over what you can and can't do. Annabelle needs to learn that. And you know to tell me if she hurts you in any way. All it'll take to put her in line is a good smack to the face and she'll remember her place."

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" Felix gave Jillian a look.

"You're questioning me again." Jillian looked down at her hands.

"I'm sorry." Felix sighed. Then he looked at Jillian and saw how sad she was. He took a deep breath and scooted the last few inches so he was sitting right next to her and took her hand in his. Then Jillian looked at him, slightly surprised, but her face stayed sad.

"Don't be sad. You've been good to me. So I want to be good to you. I'm not yelling at you, so be happy about that much."

"I know. And I'm grateful." Jillian stayed sad and Felix became concerned.

"Then don't look so sad. Unless there's something else bothering you." At those words, Jillian became a little sadder and looked back down at her lap. She tried not to show it, but it wasn't much good. Felix lost all the tension from before and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, speaking softly. "What's really bothering you?" Jillian took in a deep breath and looked at Felix.

"I need to talk to you about something. But not here." Felix gave Jillian a strange look.

"About what? What do you need to tell me that you can't say here?"

"It's about Annabelle. She made me swear to secrecy, but I never actually agreed to that. But even so, she might hurt me if she knew I told you." Felix sighed, then almost laughed after a moment. Jillian looked at Felix with surprise at his apparent amusement. Then Felix looked at her with a kind smile.

"Alright. We'll talk about this somewhere else." Felix then stood from the bench and Jillian followed with her hand in his as he walked out of the complex and went to his right towards the whore houses. But instead of going there, Felix continued further down that street, then took a left and went a few more meters.

Felix led Jillian to a lodging house usually used by drovers that were staying in Rome for business temporarily. Felix paid the money for one night and followed the owner to the room he'd been given and closed the door behind them once Felix and Jillian entered the room together. Jillian noticed a large bed in the middle of the room with a small table near it, but nothing more than that. There was a window above the bed where moon and sun light could enter the room. Felix further lit up the room by lighting the candles that were around the room. Normally it was better to use oil, but candles were cheaper and far better for places such as the lodging place. Once he had all the candles lit and there was adequate light, Felix turned his attention back to Jillian.

"So what is it you wanted to tell me?" Jillian looked at Felix, trying to find something in his face. Eventually, she just sighed.

"You already know what I want to say."

"You mean that my wife's having an affair? Then yes, I know."

"I caught him at the house. They were trying to collaborate on a way to place blame on you and her lover's wife so they could gain primary position of the marital belongings." Felix chuckled, surprising Jillian again.

"I had a feeling that would be the case. Frankly, I would be surprised if she wasn't cheating on me." Jillian sighed. "What?"

"You're taking this way too well. I know you're not in love, but I feel like you should at least be a little upset." Felix smiled and walked closer to Jillian.

"I should. And I'll admit, I'm a little annoyed that she would, but I still understand her reasoning behind it. And in truth, I'm not one to make judgments. I've cheated on her with free women before." Jillian became surprised.

"When?"

"When I was in Egypt for starters. Some of Cleopatra's servants would wander outside to the camp where I and the other soldiers were staying and sometimes we'd sleep with them. I'll bet they went through the entire camp at least twice." Jillian's head fell.

"For starters?"

"There was another time when I'd slept with one of the women that worked at Florinian's bar. And that was only three months after Annabelle and I were married. We were seeing each other for a short time until she started courting another man and we cut it off. And then I started going to Finius whore house shortly after that, and that's when I started sleeping with you regularly." Felix laughed a little to himself. "You know what's funny? I had sex for the first time only three or four years ago. Now listen to me. I make it sound like I've slept with everyone in a skirt." Felix laughed a little again. Jillian didn't see the humor.

"Then if anything, you're more to blame for all this than Annabelle. From what I can see, she wanted to love you and you spit at her when she tried."

"Don't make me out to be the bad guy in all this. I'm not the one that has an ongoing lover with plans to kill my spouse."

"That was her lover's idea and she shot it down. She wants to end this marriage more than you do and she's doing it in the most legal way possible."

"You're taking her side now?"

"Someone has to. Just because I don't like her doesn't mean she's always the one in the wrong. Frankly, it's usually you that's at fault for anything." Felix stood up and Jillian finally looked at him. Felix started walking back and forth in annoyance.

"You know, Jillian, I recall you saying that you would like it if she and I got a divorce."

"I never said that."

"You heavily implied it, Jillian. Don't think I didn't hear hopefulness when you asked about."

"That's different. I was simply under the impression that you were so miserable with your wife that she made your life a lot harder than it needs to be. I was hopeful because I thought a divorce would make you happy. Frankly, I think she has more right to complain than you do."

"Fine, so I'm a bad husband. But I'm the one who can prove she's having an affair. The courts know that, I'll get the better deal in the divorce."

"At least she only cheated with one person, Felix."

"That you know of. For all you know, she could've been as bad as me. At least I had the decency to have an affair with someone that doesn't count for more than property." Jillian sighed and laid down on the bed resting her head on the pillow staring to the wall on her right.

"Whatever you say, Felix."

"What, you think I'm wrong?"

"It doesn't matter what I think, Felix. It's your marriage, not mine."

"Okay, you're getting snippy with me again. You know I hate it when you get snippy with me."

"You know what, Felix, I don't care anymore." Felix was trying very hard to stay calm at the moment, but she was making it really difficult for him to stay calm.

"What the hell is your problem now?"

"Nothing, master. It's nothing important at all."

"You know, Jillian, you're just making me angrier than I already am." Jillian shrugged.

"That can't be helped I suppose." After that, Felix finally lost his patients and picked Jillian up until she was standing up. She was a little surprised and became defensive. But then Felix let go of her and started walking towards the door.

"We're done here. We better get back to the house." Felix was furious at the moment and he wasn't sure how much worse his temper would get if they talked anymore about this.

Jillian didn't say anything. She just followed Felix in silence as they walked home together. Once they were at the house, Jillian stayed downstairs while Felix walked up the stairs. Normally, he'd tell her to come up with him and sleep in the house, but today, he wasn't in the mood and Jillian wasn't in much better spirits either. She fell asleep on the bench she'd started at and woke up in the morning to Felix tapping her shoulder gently to wake her up. He just told her that he was taking her to Lia's home for the day. While they were walking to Lia's home, Jillian got up the nerve to speak to him.

"I'm sorry I upset you. I don't know what came over me." Felix stopped in his tracks and looked at Jillian a moment. She waited in silence, letting him think. Then he walked closer to her until they were face to face and his voice was liquid and calm.

"Don't be. You did the right thing by telling me what was going on and I shot you down. Slave or not, you don't deserve that from me. I'm the one that should be sorry." Jillian breathed out and walked over to Felix and hugged him tightly. Felix smiled and hugged her back and spoke again in a teasing voice. "What're you hugging me for." Jillian smiled back.

"Don't be cruel. I wanted to hug you."

"I know." Felix held Jillian tighter and they stood together hugging in the street. Felix eventually let her go and grabbed a hold of her hand. "Let's go. I promised Lia I'd let her borrow you for today. She has laundry she house work she needs done." Jillian smiled.

"I'll be glad to help Lia. She's a joy." Felix chuckled.

"I know she is." Felix and Jillian began walking again and took no time to get to Lia's home. When they arrived, Lia welcomed Felix and Jillian in and Jillian immediately started getting the laundry done. Felix didn't stay very long. He claimed to have some business to get down in town and left Jillian in Lia's capable hands. Once Felix was gone, there was a moment of silence while Lia attended to her son. Jillian finally spoke, knowing she wanted to talk to Lia about what she'd seen.

"Lia." Lia grunted, letting Jillian know she was listening. "Yesterday when I got back to Felix home, I say something that bothered me."

"Did you? What's that?" Jillian took a deep breath.

"Annabelle had another man there. And they were discussing….bad things. I saw them kissing and it was far too passionate to be anything friendly." Lia turned to look at Jillian, her face a mix of several emotions.

"You're sure about this? Annabelle's having an affair?" Jillian nodded.

"Yes, I think she is. They were discussing trying to get divorced from their spouses in a way that would benefit them both and getting married once the divorces were final. And they spoke of loving each other." Lia stood up, looking thoughtful.

"These are serious accusations. If you're right about this, than I should be able to catch her in the act. The court won't take your testimony. A slave in their eyes is too easily changed. For all they know, you were being ordered to say that." Jillian nodded.

"I know. So what will happen?" Lia shrugged.

"The only thing that can happen. I'll go to the house a little later today. If you're right, then we should be able to catch them today. If I catch her, that will be enough for Felix to come out of this with the better end." Lia looked at Jillian with a smile. "Then he could free and marry you." Jillian jumped just a little from Lia's words.

"You think…."

"I don't see why not. He clearly cares for you. I've not seen much of the two of you together, but I know my brother. The way he looks and talks to you, it's different from most. Granted you two couldn't get married right away, but he could free you any time he wanted." Jillian sighed.

"I take it you've already talked to him about this?" Lia shook her head.

"Not yet. I haven't had the opportunity. I will soon, though. Especially since this occurrence with Annabelle came up. I really hope you're right about this."

"I know what I saw. She made me swear to never speak of this, but I never actually promised I would. You and Florinian interrupted us before I could decline." Lia giggled.

"That's what I do best, I suppose." Lia and Jillian shared a laugh and went back to what they'd been doing while still talking about other things. Once Jillian was done with all the chores that needed to be done, Lia decided it was time to go to Felix house and see if Jillian was right about Annabelle having an affair.

Jillian told Lia that she'd already told Felix and that he wasn't surprised about it and Lia just shrugged and said that sounded like classic him. The complex was alive with activity when they arrived. Housewives and slaves were out and about doing household chores and getting some meat prepared for dinner that night. Lia glanced up towards the house and didn't see anyone there. Then she turned to look at Jillian.

"You stay down here." Lia handed Felix to Jillian. "Take Felix for me." Jillian took Felix in her arms and watched Lia begin to walk up the stairs. Then she walked over to the bench to wait patiently. Lia walked up the stairs and to the house as quietly as she could. She heard sounds coming from the house, so she knew Annabelle was there. But whether she was alone or with her lover she still wasn't sure.

First, she tried looking through a crack in the window to see if they were even doing anything questionable that was worth interrupting. Thankfully, what she saw was more than enough proof for her. Annabelle was with her lover in her marriage bed in the throes of passion and nearly naked in bed together. Lia decided she would have no better opportunity than she would now. So she walked to the doors of the house and threw them open. Annabelle had forgotten to lock the doors this time. When Lia barged in, Annabelle and her lover stared at her in fear and surprise and Annabelle, who was currently naked while her lover still had on his pants, tried covering herself with the sheets.

"What are you doing here?" Lia laughed at Annabelle without humor.

"I might ask you the same. Honestly, Annabelle! In his home?"

"It's my home, Lia!"

"It won't be for much longer once I tell Felix about this. He already had a feeling you were having an affair but this will prove it beyond a doubt. Your slave's word might not be good enough, but mine sure as hell is." Annabelle stood from the bed still holding the sheets up to cover herself and walked to Lia.

"That house whore told you?"

"Yes, she told me. And she already told Felix too. But as I said, he figured it out himself. I hope you're prepared to lose everything, you whore. Because all this will be gone." Annabelle ran closer to Lia and her lover stayed close behind.

"You won't tell Felix. I won't let you tell him about this."

"What makes you think I won't tell him? I've never liked you. Why would I keep something like this a secret from Felix?" Annabelle got closer and Lia backed away.

"I said you're not telling him. I don't care what it takes; I'm not going to sit back and let you tell him."

The argument continued to get more and more heated while Jillian waited downstairs patiently and nervously for Lia to come back down. She had a bad feeling about what she was doing and was prepared to go upstairs and help Lia the moment she heard yelling and things went south. Meanwhile, Felix was walking home from his errand. He'd gone to Finius to ask about a lawyer. He knew that he'd been divorced and definitely had the money and resources to know a good lawyer. While he'd been there, he had one of his new whores to pass the time. He felt compelled to sleep with someone seeing as he was kind enough to help him out.

Finius gave Felix the name of his Lawyer and guaranteed that he was one of the best. Felix thanked Finius for the whore and lawyer and made his way home after that. Annabelle thought he was working today, so he was expecting her lover to be there with her. If he could catch her, then he would have all the reason for a divorce that he needed. And a few months after his divorce, he could think about freeing Jillian. He hadn't directly promised to, but he'd made the promise in so many words. While he was walking into the complex, he noticed that Jillian was there. He was walking over to her and she stood from the bench when she saw him approaching. But as he was approaching, he heard a man yell and a women scream and before he could look up, Lia had been pushed off the side of the building and landed on the hard ground, motionless on impact, earning a blood curdling scream from Jillian and stares from all the neighbors.

"LIA!" Felix ran to Lia's dead body and Jillian backed away until she fell back into the bench seat. Once Felix was at Lia's side, he picked her up and began patting her face. "Lia. Lia, please. Lia!" He kept patting her face, but then he felt blood on his hand from her head and he knew there was nothing he could do. But knowing that, he refused to accept it. He kept patting her face. "Lia, come back. Please, Lia." After a moment, Felix just collapsed on Lia's face and cried. He felt no shame in it like he normally would. After a few seconds, he brought his head up and looked at Jillian, who had terror in her eyes. The he looked up and saw Annabelle and a man he'd never met. He assumed that was her lover. When he saw them, they ran into the house together. His tears changed to anger and he stood from Lia's body and began to walk, but Jillian stopped him.

"Master, please. Calm down. I'll go get help." Felix didn't even look at her. He kept his eyes on the house to make sure they weren't trying to get away.

"Stay out of this Jillian." Then he pushed Jillian away hard enough that she almost fell over.

"Master! Please, think about what you're doing! Felix!" Felix ignored Jillian as he walked up the stairs.

She was about to follow him, but then she heard another man scream Lia's name. She looked over her shoulder and saw Florinian run over, tears in his eyes long before he reached Lia. Once he finally saw Jillian, he forced words through his tears, demanding Jillian explain what happened. Felix didn't hear that at all as he walked up the stairs to his house. He heard commotion from people around them, but he ignored it. Most was being directed at Lia's freshly dead body in the middle of the complex. When Felix got to his house and opened the doors, he saw Annabelle, now fully dressed, trying to gather some things together. She and her lover turned their attention to Felix when he walked into the room. She saw the fury in Felix eyes and tried her best to reason with him.

"Felix. Calm down. This wasn't my fault. She fell. We didn't do anything to her." Felix almost laughed at her. He wasn't actually amused. He'd just been so mad that he pretty much made a one eighty in his mood and he just wanted blood.

"You don't even bother coming up with a good lie, Annabelle. Now I'm just angrier." My weapons were conveniently hanging near the door, so I grabbed the knife from its sheath and approached them with the knife in hand. Annabelle backed away and her lover almost reluctantly went in front of her to block her.

"Felix, calm down. We can talk about this rationally like adults. Just put the knife down." Felix didn't listen to Annabelle. He just kept moving towards them. Out of panic, her lover reached for a knife on the kitchen table and ran to Felix to defend Annabelle. But all he did was stab Felix left shoulder while Felix stabbed her lover right in the gut.

Annabelle screamed as her lover coughed up blood that was pooling in his stomach and started groaning in pain while the acids in his stomach poured into his body and burned his intestines. Felix had learned that when he'd first joined the army. This was a method favored when assassinating an enemy leader. It wasn't an instant death, but it was painful and long. He wouldn't be dead for a good ten minutes. Just to add insult to injury, Felix sliced his throat only deep enough that he was bleeding and in pain on the floor. Annabelle stared in fear and started backing away when Felix started walking closer.

"Felix, please don't do this. I love you. We can work this out." Felix laughed again without humor.

"There's nothing to work out. We both knew we've been miserable since we married. Why would we bother fixing it now." Annabelle started tearing up, fearing for her life.

"Please, Felix. He meant nothing to me. He seduced me."

"You know, if you're going to insist on lying to me, you should work on doing it better."

Giving up on reasoning with him, Annabelle started looking around for a way out. The window was out of the question seeing as they were on the third floor of the building. The she saw a large empty spot between Felix and a wall. That was enough room for her to run. Annabelle began running, but Felix was faster and he made Annabelle run her throat right into his knife. Annabelle was forced to a halt because of the blade and reached for her throat as the pain radiated in her neck. Then Felix pulled out the knife and Annabelle fell to her knees on the floor. Not satisfied, Felix grabbed her by her hair and pulled her to her feet. Then he stabbed her twice to puncture both her lungs and dropped her next to her lover. He watched her face turn red and purple as she gasped for and noticed her lover was already long since dead. Faster than he thought. Once she was dead, Felix turned to the water bucket and began washing off the blood from his hands. He looked in the mirror and saw his victims in the background while washing blood off his face. He heard footsteps running towards the house and looked over his shoulder and saw Jillian barge in and scream. After she finished screaming, she looked at Felix.

"Felix, what have you done!"

"Killed my wife and her lover from the looks of it." Jillian sneered a little at Felix sarcasm.

"This is not the time for sarcasm, Felix! You just murdered two people."

"I've murdered far more than just them. I'm a soldier remember."

"That's not the point, Felix! You're going to get in a lot of trouble for this! You know that!" Felix shrugged and walked over to Jillian. It was then Jillian noticed the gash in Felix arm. "You're hurt."

"Yeah, I know. I didn't start feeling it until a few seconds ago. I guess the adrenaline tempered the pain."

"We need to get you to a doctor."

"Me? I'm not the one we should be worrying about. Why did you leave Lia and Felix alone?" Jillian shook her head.

"I didn't. Florinian's down there with them. He came after you were upstairs."

"That explains the screaming I heard."

"Felix, please go to a doctor. Let Florinian take care of Lia. We'll give her a proper cremation, but please. It's still bleeding, Felix, for heaven's sake."

"I will. But only after we give Lia the proper respect." Felix glanced over his shoulder at his victims. "As far as these two, I'll just throw them in the sewers tonight."

"Felix." Felix held up his hand to silence Jillian.

"Stop. I won't give respect in death to the woman and her lover that murdered my sister."

"Felix I'm sorry. But what you did won't bring Lia back. All you did was degrade yourself to their level."

"Jillian, the last thing I need is to get moral advice from a former hooker." Jillian stared at me wide eyed, then looked at the floor.

"Fine. But you know what, Felix." Felix stood a little straighter and crossed his arms, a little aggravated that she was planning to attempt to put him in his place at a time like this. "That may be true. But even a hooker like me knows a man from a monster. And I'm glad Lia didn't live to see her brother become the monster he really is."

Felix was fighting his anger now. He'd still been fuming, but now he could feel his face turning red. Jillian didn't look scared. Instead, she turned her back and walked away from him and back down the stairs to Florinian, who was still ridden with tears. Felix stood where he was in awe for a moment. No one had ever spoken to him like that. He'd been spoken down to more times than he could count, but that was because he had superior commanding officers and he took it with a brave face. But no slave, or even woman in general, had ever spoken to him like that. He had no idea what he should do. He just stood there dumbfounded until he had enough of his composure back to walk out of his house and downstairs. He left his wife and her lover in the house for later. He would handle them when it was dark and any sober witnesses would be in bed.

Felix walked down the steps and saw Florinian and Jillian placing Lia's body on a cart so we could carry her body outside town and give her a proper funeral. No one said a word as they walked outside the city and made their way to the forests. Once they found a spot that was already set up, they placed Lia's body there and paid their respects to her. When they all said their last goodbyes, Felix lit the sticks and they stood by and watched Lia's body burn. Florinian began crying again while Felix already shed his tears. He wasn't any less hurt and lost, but once he cried once, he never did again. That's just how he was. While watching Lia burn, Jillian's words kept sinking deeper and deeper in him. It wasn't bothering him as much as it had been just an hour ago. He'd brought it on himself. When Lia's body was ash, they all stood there for one more silent hour while the wind blew away the ashes. No one walked away until they were completely gone. Felix was the first to begin leaving. He wanted to stay, but he had another serious matter to attend to and it would be dark by the time he reached home.

"Felix." Felix stopped and turned to look at Jillian. She'd followed him enough distance away that Florinian would hear their conversation.

"What?"

"Go to the doctor now. Please, I'll deal with the bodies for you. Just go to a doctor. That cut will get infected if you don't. You don't want to lose your arm do you?"

"Jillian." His voice was stern and it silenced Jillian in an instant. She was anticipating being yelled at for her comment earlier, but to her surprise, that wasn't what he said. "I'm sorry for what I did. I will never forgive what happened. I acted in rage and I shouldn't have done that. But I know that I would never feel any relief if I didn't."

"Felix, I know you're hurt, but…"

"Jillian, Lia's been my best friend since we were children. I looked out for her. She even looked out for me to an extent. She's the only family I had."

"I know."

"No, you don't know." Jillian stayed silent. Felix didn't feel a need to further discuss the matter. "I want you to go home with Florinian tonight. I may ask you to stay with him. He'll need someone to help him with Felix." Jillian's head flew up to look at Felix. She wasn't sure what he was saying exactly, but she knew it wasn't good.

"What are you trying to tell me, Felix?"

"I don't need a slave. I never really did."

"Then why….." Jillian didn't finish her sentence. Felix answered at last.

"Because…I wanted you. I was selfish and wanted you for myself. And I thought it would be nice to have someone around that didn't make me miserable. But Florinian needs you more than me now." Felix turned again and began walking away. But Jillian ran to him and stood in front of him.

"You'll come to see me all the time, right?" Felix looked at her for a few moments before answering.

"Why would I?" Jillian felt a stabbing pain in her heart. Felix began walking again and Jillian turned to watch him and blurted out what she'd wanted to say for all the time she knew him.

"Because I love you Felix! I love you!" Felix stopped walking and stared at the ground a moment. Then he turned to look at Jillian's now tear stained face. Then he did something he never did for her before. He gave her a loving smile.

"I know." They looked at each other for a few moments before Jillian couldn't take the separation anymore and ran to him and hugged him. Felix hugged her in return and even kissed her passionately. But he ended the kiss long before Jillian was ready to let him go. "I promised I would free you. And I won't go back on that." Jillian looked into his eyes.

"You did?"

"Yes. In so many words. I would still like for you to help Florinian, but I will free you." Jillian smiled just a moment, then lost her smile when another question came to her mind.

"Would you ever….would you ever consider..marrying me? Not for a while, I know. But maybe one day?" They looked at each other for a long time. Jillian waited patiently for Felix to answer while her heart throbbed. But he did eventually answer.

"I'm not ready yet. But maybe one day." Jillian smiled and kissed Felix again.

"That's all I hope for."

He needed to leave. It would be dark soon and the night wouldn't last long. He kissed Jillian one last time and walked away, Jillian watching him leave. As predicted, it was night time by the time Felix reached Rome again. He would still have to wait a few hours before actually dumping the bodies. He would need to prep them first anyway. He had a few extra sheets he could use to tie up the bodies. And he would strong enough that he could carry both bodies to the sewers outside the complex. Before walking back to his house, he stopped by a bar and bought a cup of wine and poured it on his cut to kill any infection that might have started to spread. This would have to suffice until he went to the doctor tomorrow.

Felix started walking slowly at first. It took a moment for the sting from the wine to stop. And figures, it started bleeding more. But he continued to ignore it and walked home as fast as he could. When he got back to the complex, just about everyone was asleep. There were a few slaves out, but that was normal and nothing to get worried over. But what Felix found strange was that there was lamp light coming from his house. He hadn't remembered lighting anything and he didn't remember those lamps being on when he got to the house earlier. Felix walked up the stairs cautiously. For a moment, he thought maybe Jillian had come to his home, but then dismissed the thought. There's no way she would've gotten here before him, even when he stopped to get wine.

Felix walked up the stairs cautiously and as quietly as he could. When he was close enough that he could see through the window, he saw his wife and her lover on the ground where he left them, but then saw another person there that was bent over his wife's body. When he paid attention, he could swear it sounded like the woman was drinking. The women had odd blonde hair. It was a strange hair color for the area. And her hair was long and looked silky and beautiful. Felix walked a little closer to the door, then the woman's head jerked up to look at him and her face was one of the most beautiful he'd ever seen. She stood to her feet and smiled at him. Felix walked into his house and was about to start asking the woman questions, but then he heard his door close and looked towards his door and saw another woman. This one was also beautiful but slightly taller than the blonde and had mahogany hair. She looked distinctly German from what Felix remembered of the area when he'd been there.

"Who are you?" The woman with mahogany hair smiled kindly.

"It's not important, good sir." Then the blonde grabbed a hold of Felix from behind and brought her lips close to his ear.

"These two bodies weren't adequate. They'd been dead too long. But you'll serve us nicely." Cannibals? Felix almost shuttered at the thought. But he didn't let it show and tried getting away from them. The women both felt like stone when they approached him, but he did his best to push them away.

Somehow, he pushed away the blonde that felt like she may as well be made of stone. They fought too and were much faster than he was, but he kicked the mahogany women's face when she bit his ankle and punched the blonde when she bit his neck, somehow not breaking his hand. But once they released him, he felt like he was on fire and he fell to the ground hitting his head hard against the floor and fighting the scream in his throat from the pain. The women stood up and watched Felix and were a little stunned.

"Well, that was interesting." The mahogany woman nodded.

"I'll say. I mean, it wasn't much of a fight, but it was better than most people." Then she looked at the blonde. "Chelsea."

"What?"

"You don't suppose he could have a gift? Maybe we should let him change and present him to Aro. He's always looking for new recruits." Felix wasn't listening to the women talk. He was in so much pain and trying not to scream from it. Chelsea looked at him and looked thoughtful.

"He might. But maybe we should ask Aro first. Unless you have a liking for him, Heidi." Heidi giggled at Chelsea's teasing and waved her hand dismissively.

"Oh stop it, Chelsea. I'm only saying. Is Aro nearby? We could ask him now." After that, Felix looked up, still in too much pain to listen. But he tried crawling to Heidi's feet and grabbed her angle.

"What….what did…?" Heidi pulled her ankle from his hand and smiled.

"Wow. And he's stubborn. I think Aro will appreciate him."

"But what about food? These two were dead too long, so their blood's getting rotten. Maybe he wouldn't mind if we helped ourselves to the neighbors." Heidi shook her head.

"No, don't do that. We can attack one of the drunks later."

"But I get woozy when I drink them." Heidi giggled.

"Funny how wine has no effect on us, but the moment we drink a drunkard, we get buzzed." Chelsea smiled.

"How many vampires do you suppose learned that the hard way like we did?" Heidi shrugged.

"No one knows." After a moment, Aro knocked on the door and Heidi opened it for him. He and Sulpicia walked in next to him. Aro grabbed Heidi's hand to hear what had happened and smiled when he looked at Felix.

"You never know. You might be right."

"What should we do with him, master? He might not stay quiet forever." Aro looked at Felix, who was still writhing in pain on the floor, barely keeping himself quiet.

"That's true, Chelsea. Why don't you and Heidi take him out to the woods. And grab a human for you both since you're thirsty. I would rather you left his neighbors alone." Aro walked over to Felix and grabbed his hand. Felix tried pulling it away, but he didn't have the strength to pull away and not scream. "Interesting."

"What is it, my love?"

"These two. He killed them himself. Evidently, the woman murdered his sister, so he returned the favor to her and her lover." Sulpicia pouted.

"Well that's sad."

"Indeed. He had his sister's funeral today. He was planning to throw these two in the sewers once he got home."

"Should we do that as a favor to him?" Aro looked at Heidi.

"That's a sweet notion Heidi. I think it would be polite to do that for him. Dispose of those two before you grab dinner if you please. Chelsea, you take care of bringing him to the woods. And if anyone sees you, you kill them. Is that clear?" Chelsea nodded.

"Yes, Aro."

Heidi nodded her head as well and grabbed the two dead bodies in the room and moved quickly to the sewers and threw them in where all the other dead bodies would sometimes end up in Rome. Chelsea grabbed a hold of Felix and ran out without being seen by the neighbors and headed for the woods outside the city. She didn't wait long for Heidi to show up with two people that were unconscious and ready for food. Chelsea placed Felix against a tree and they sat back and kept an eye on him after they finished their blood meal, snapping their victims' necks to make sure they were dead. An hour went by with them just watching Felix. Chelsea decided to start a conversation out of boredom.

"Can you believe it?"

"What?" Chelsea sighed.

"I've been a vampire for thirty one years now. And I haven't changed a bit."

"That shouldn't be too much of a surprise. I've been a vampire seventy years shy of a thousand years. At least that's what I'm assuming. And I haven't changed either." Chelsea smiled. Then she looked at Heidi.

"You know, we've been in the same coven for so long and yet I've never really asked you anything about you." Heidi smiled.

"Don't feel bad. I haven't either." They were quiet a moment before Chelsea added to the conversation.

"So what's your story?" Heidi knew what Chelsea meant and sighed.

"I was part of a tribe called Heidbrier. I was born in a village called Braun, but I was married off to one of the sons of the village leader of Heidbrier."

"What was that like?" Heidi shrugged.

"I wasn't happy. My family was killed and my husband murdered my brother. He apologized to me for it, but it wasn't enough. I never really forgave him for that."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry. It was before you were born. Besides, he wasn't a horrible husband. He treated me and our daughter well, so I can't complain about that."

"You had a daughter?" Heidi nodded.

"Zoë. Her father's name was Sören. I loved her more than anything. And those two were so close to each other. He would even take her hunting with him sometimes so they could spend more time together."

"What happened to them?" Heidi sighed in discontentment.

"They were killed by the vampires that changed me. Greeks I know now. I buried them together. My husband and daughter were so close, it seemed right."

"I'm sorry that had to happen to you. At least your life was happy for the most part up until then am I right?" Heidi shrugged.

"As happy as it could be under the circumstances. I didn't love Sören. But after the years of him being a good husband, I became really fond of him."

"Do you think he loved you?" Heidi was silent again. She wasn't sure how to answer Chelsea. She wasn't sure herself.

"I don't know. I think he might have, but he always put our daughter before me and I was fine with that."

"That's just being a good father. That doesn't mean he probably didn't love you." Heidi shrugged.

"He might have. But regardless, I was happy with the friendship we hand. Sure, maybe friendship isn't enough in a marriage, but it worked for us. And I'll admit that I miss them. Especially Zoë." Heidi voice broke a little when she said her daughter's name. She wasn't crying, but she was feeling the burn in her eyes from tears that wanted to come.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, don't worry about it. It's in the past. I can't change what happened. All I can do is remember that my daughter was happy all her life. I just wish she could have grown into a woman."

"I know." They were quiet again. Heidi was trying to think of other things. There wasn't a day that went by that she didn't think of her late husband and daughter, but she didn't like thinking about it too much. Whenever she did, she always felt like she hadn't done enough to save them and it made her feel worse. Another hour passed and Felix still kept quiet. But the pain was plain on his face. But eventually, Heidi spoke again.

"What about you? What's your story?" Chelsea sighed.

"I was a slave. I used to live in Northern Italy with my family on our farm and a drover, I think it was, either that or a soldier, I can't remember, took me from my family and took me to Rome to be sold. I was bought by a women called Miss Renata and she kept me for two years at her whore house. She had someone that worked for her that took a liking to me and he eventually bought me. And that's around the time you guys all met me. Not much to say about me."

"Ah. So I guess this life wasn't something you resent?" Chelsea shook her head.

"Not at all. It was either be a vampire or let men kill me after they forced my miscarriage. I still wonder if that baby's still technically inside me."

"I doubt it. You're body probably destroyed it when you were changing." Chelsea sighed.

"I guess so." There was a moment of silence again. "Hey, Heidi?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you would ever want another baby? Maybe Aro would make an exception for us and let us have immortal children." Heidi laughed a little and fought the tempting thought.

"Never. He would never allow it. But admittedly, if I found the right mate, I think I would love to have a child. If I could."

"Me too. I've been pregnant so many time, but I never got to keep my children. Even if I hated the man that was most likely the father of most of my children, I would've loved them."

"How many times did you get pregnant?"

"I think six times. I don't remember the exact number anymore. I just remember that I was trying to run away to save at least one of my children and, as you recall, it didn't end up working out that way."

"Yeah, I remember."

"But what about you? Do you regret ever becoming a vampire?"

"I'm not sure regret is a proper word to use. Regret implies that I chose this and now feel like I made the wrong choice. But I do hate that this happened to me, yes. I would've rather grown old with my husband and seen my grandchildren before I died an old lady. I didn't get to do that and I resent those Greeks that changed me for what they did."

"I see. So how did Aro find you?"

"We ran into each other, he noticed I had a gift, then he asked me to join his coven. I had nowhere else to go and nothing else to do, so I said yes."

"I see. Do you regret that?" Heidi thought about it a moment and shrugged.

"Maybe sometimes. But I only feel that way because I never wanted this life to begin with. What happened never ceases to haunt my life. But at least being in Aro's coven forces my mind away from it and makes me concentrate on vampiric matters. I guess I could say it's a double edged sword in that respect." Chelsea smiled and nodded.

"Do you think you'll ever fall in love?" Heidi shrugged.

"Who can say? I don't know if I want to, but if I meet the right man, then I wouldn't deny him my love in return."

"Me too. I've never known what it's like to love another person in that way. I think I would love to learn." Heidi laughed to herself.

"I'm sure you would. Would you have a wedding and everything?" Chelsea giggled.

"And what if I did?"

"I would say, 'I better be invited'." Chelsea smiled and nodded her head.

"Of course you are. Just let me find a groom first." Heidi and Chelsea laughed together and continued passing the time with conversation. Felix never heard what they were saying. The pain was all he could concentrate on, no matter how hard he tried not to.

He had no idea what was happening to him. All he knew was that he was burning and yet for some reason he wasn't dying. The thought crossed his mind that maybe he was dead and he was in Pluto's world being punished for his crimes. When that thought came to him, he decided there was no use fighting anymore and he laid back and let the pain flow without complaint. If this was what he deserved, then he wouldn't fight it anymore. He couldn't get used to it or forget about it all the same and three days of unbearable pain ensued until on the third day when the sun was low in the sky and about to set, he felt the pain begin to leave his fingers and toes. The pain continued to ebb until the pain centered in his heart. Then the pain was gone and Felix breathed out his last breath as a human. Chelsea and Heidi heard his heart beat for the last time and stopped their chatter to look at him.

Felix opened his eyes for the first time since the pain started. He tried remembering things before this moment, but he realized he couldn't remember anything, no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't even remember exactly what his name was. He only knew it started with an F. Chelsea came a little closer to Felix, but he stood right up in an instant and backed away. Both Chelsea and Heidi stood in response. Chelsea used her power to make Felix feel like they were all friendly and calmed him down. Then she spoke to him.

"How do you feel, Felix?" That was his name. Felix. But he couldn't remember anything else. All he remembered was pain. Anything he'd thought about during the change was lost from his mind, as was anything before that. He only remembered pain.

"What happened?"

"We've changed you, Felix. You're a vampire now. I'm sure you noticed the burn in your throat." Felix brought his hand to his throat, the burn at the forefront of his mind now.

"Yes." Heidi sighed.

"We need to get him someone to drink."

"I'll go. We can't let him in the city right now. He'll go wild."

"I know. You try to talk to him and calm him down. I'll get him some blood and let Aro know he's done changing."

"I will." Then Heidi took off for the city, leaving Chelsea alone with Felix. "Try to stay calm. I will explain everything."

"What did you do to me? I'm a vampire? You mean a cannibal?" Chelsea shook her head.

"No, you're not a cannibal. You have to be human to be considered a cannibal for starters. You're not human anymore. And you don't eat human meat. We only drink their blood. Stregoni Benifici is what some call us."

"What do you want from me?"

"We're going to introduce you to Aro. If he likes you, he'll offer you a place in the Volturi coven. If he doesn't, he might demand we kill you or let you go."

"So if I decline your offer, you kill me? Is that it?"

"He won't kill you if you decline. He'll let you leave after he explains a few things to you and what's expected of you." Felix laughed without humor.

"What's expected of me? You're not family, I don't know any of you. What right do you have to tell me what I can and can't do? Who do you think you are?"

"We're the Volturi Coven. We keep our world secret from humans. And when someone threatens to expose us, we take action against the" Felix growled.

"Why would I follow your group's orders? I didn't want this life. You forced it on me."

"Most of us have this life forced on us. I never asked to become what I am. But there's no going back once it's done. So you can either listen to the voice of reason and live, or you can fight us and lose. You're already dead, so killing you again won't be a problem."

Felix silenced Chelsea when he ran to her and grabbed her throat, slamming her against a tree. The tree suffered more damage that Chelsea, but there were cracks in her neck from the force of Felix grabbing onto her. Chelsea grabbed his arm and was about to break it, but he let go quickly enough to turn her around, grab her hair and both her wrists in his left hand. Once he had a hold of her, he bit into her neck and severed her head from her body. Then Chelsea fell to the ground. Felix heard clapping and looked in the direction the sound was coming from. He only recognized the woman with mahogany hair. She was standing in a small crowd of six other vampires. They all had black hair except for one, who had pail blonde hair. The man clapping was in the middle.

"That was quite a show, Felix. I think you may be useful to my coven after all." Aro signaled with his hand for Heidi to run to Chelsea and put her back together. It took a moment, but Chelsea's head did eventually heal back to her body and she held her throat so her neck could heal completely. Felix was a little stunned. "Don't be alarmed, Felix."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Please, stay calm, Felix. I am Aro. Leader of the Volturi." He pointed to the woman to his right. "This is my mate, Sulpicia. Next to her are Caius, his mate Athenadora, and to my left are Marcus and his mate Didyme. The woman you just decapitated is Chelsea and the other lady is Heidi. Together, we're the Volturi Coven. We keep our world under cover from humans and kill all those that threaten our secrecy."

"And why should I join you? The blonde said you wanted me to join you." Aro smiled.

"I would very much love it if you did. Granted, you're a newborn, so your power is great anyway. But you were somehow able to put up a fight against two vampires while human. That alone is simply too good to pass up. I'm wondering if you'll keep that strength long after you've grown out of your newborn bloodlust." Felix growled, but he was starting to feel a connection to Aro he couldn't explain. Despite her anger, Chelsea knew Aro was expecting she make Felix feel an attachment to him, so she was forming a bond to make this whole meeting easier.

"So you want me to be a bodyguard is what you're saying." Aro shook his head.

"Bodyguard is such a vulgar misrepresentation of what you would be. You'd be a soldier. Just as you were in your human life."

"A soldier?" Aro sighed.

"I see. You've suffered memory loss. I do hate it when that happens. But all that aside, my coven with provide you a home and a family, if you will. And your experience in fighting will make you an asset to me."

Felix was still reluctant about joining Aro's coven. The idea of being in a large group of people he didn't know didn't bode well with him. Aro seemed to wait patiently for Felix to make a decision, but the blonde, Caius, wasn't as patient. He was getting impatient and more aggravated as the seconds passed. Felix tried to ignore him, but Caius wouldn't be ignored.

"Aro, he doesn't have a gift from what we can see. He's of no use to us if his only attribute to us would be fighting. We could gather vampires that have been around for a while if we want that." Felix hissed at Caius, angering him. But Aro got between them.

"Caius, you're not the one in charge. I am. I started this coven myself and I will decide who is and isn't worthy of my coven. Now be quiet and let the man make his own decision." Aro turned back to look at Felix. "Please, don't let him discourage you. Whatever you decide will be accepted." Felix looked at the ground and kept thinking. Aro glanced at Chelsea, telling her to keep tightening a bond. By the time Felix came to a decision, he almost felt obligated to join Aro.

"Fine. I'll join your coven." Aro smiled and clapped his hands once in joy.

"Magnificent. You will certainly be an asset to my coven and everyone will make you feel welcomed as they had when they joined. Am I right everyone?" The coven nodded together and Chelsea kept giving Felix a dirty look.

"Just so you know, Felix. I will get back at you for what you did?"

"Severing your head from your shoulders? Oh come one. There was no harm done." Heidi smiled a little in humor and Chelsea hissed, but didn't say another word. Now that the decision was made, the group started wondering back to the city after Felix drank the blood of a human Heidi had been keeping at bay during the conversation.

It took a lot of willpower for Felix to keep from attacking any people in the night, but he slipped a handful of times. Some older vampires that were in the area knew immediately that he was a newborn and avoided him at all costs. Newborns weren't hated, but they weren't exactly liked either. But Felix managed to control himself to an extent and was completely in control by the end of seven months of being a newborn. Once he had total control, Aro was able to use him more effectively. Not long after Felix joined the coven, Renata joined the group. She was a nomad that was under charges for having an immortal child. Aro was amazed that Felix was unable to reach her when he tried attacking. That's when Chelsea forced a bond between Renata and Aro and convinced her to join the Volturi and kill the immortal child. It was a little kid she'd taken pity on, so the bond wasn't hard to break. Felix and Renata had a little mini affair for a while that drove Caius nuts. But after five years, Felix was bored with her and ended the affair. Renata didn't really care regardless.

All the time Felix was in the Volturi, he kept feeling empty for whatever reason. He'd had several lovers through the centuries, but none of them were ever good enough, or they annoyed him, or they made him uncomfortable because they reminded him of things he couldn't remember, as much of a paradox that was. But once Felix joined the Volturi, he never questioned the authority or why he joined or anything. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't really care about it. Why that was, he could never say. e


	14. Prologue

**Prologue**

**Rome 42 b.c.**

_Author's Note: There were a few people who wanted to know what happened to Jillian. Here's a short for them. If you wish to know more, there will be a chapter in Hunter's Moon that will explain this more in depth. I'll give you a hint to when it's coming. It's when Dante and Amadora finally get married! So if you want to read more, keep an eye out for that chapter. That said, please enjoy Prologue._

**JPOV**

I was at Florinian's home alone for the time being. Florinian and given Felix a job working at the bar with him. He was planning to give the bar to him as soon as he was old enough. I had a feeling Lia wouldn't have wanted him working as young as ten, but without her here, there was no one to tell Florinian otherwise. I'd come to his home after Lia's funeral as Felix had told me to and I've been taking care of them since then. The next day, I'd gone to his home to check on him, but he wasn't there. I wasn't too nervous at first. I figured he was at a bar somewhere and decided to wait until that night to check on him. But when he still wasn't home that night, I began to get worried.

A fortnight had gone by without a word from Felix and I was nothing but nerves. I'd gone to some soldiers and a commanding officer of his and asked if they'd seen him. Evidently, he hadn't shown up in days and was now officially labeled as being a deserter and would be punished greatly for his actions if they ever found him. Florinian was worried too and he asked all his friends and patrons to keep an eye out for him. But after five months of searching for him and getting nothing from any of Florinian's patrons, we were forced to accept the possibility that he either ran from Rome, was murdered himself, or committed suicide. I knew the last option wasn't true. Felix would never take his own life no matter how depressed he was. He was far too fond of himself for that. I hated giving up hope, but there was no other option for us.

But I knew that Felix wouldn't want me wasting time, as he would put it, looking for him. I promised I'd take care of Florinian and Felix and that's what I did. Florinian never officially freed me, but he would sometimes give me money to spend on myself whenever he was feeling a little less sad. And Felix had taken a liking to me since his mother was gone. And I did my best with him and treated him like he was my own son. Sometimes, I would think of him as just that.

"Hey Jillian." I turned from the dishes and looked at him.

"What are you doing home? Don't you have work?" Felix smiled.

"Dad said I could come over and get some lunch. The bar food is vile and I was hoping I couldn't have a home cooked lunch instead." I smiled and nodded my head.

"Alright. What are you in the mood for?" Felix walked over to the table and took a seat.

"What fruits do we have?" Jillian took a moment to look around the kitchen and found some apples and grapes. Then she held them up and let Felix pick which one he wanted. "I think I'll have some grapes."

"Good choice. I got these just yesterday. I was thinking of turning them into raisins." Felix scrunched his nose and shook his head.

"I don't like raisins." I giggled and walked over to give him his grapes then kissed his forehead.

"You're so cute. You know that?"

"You tell me every day." I smiled.

"I suppose I do." Felix started eating his grapes, then awareness came to his eyes.

"Oh, and Jillian?"

"Yeah?"

"Before I forget. Dad gave me some money to give to you." Felix reached into a pocket and pulled out some coins. "He said you should treat yourself to dinner tonight, He said we're having dinner with one of his patrons tonight. I think he has a daughter dad wants me to meet." I laughed a little to myself.

"You're father's making you grow up too fast, Felix."

"Don't worry about me, Jillian. We're not exchanging vows or nothing. He's just making us meet, and we'll see each other a lot from now on. It's not so bad. And dad says women are fun. You're definitely fun." I giggled and sighed a little before kissing his forehead.

"I'm glad to hear it, Felix."

When Felix finished eating his grapes, he went across the street back to work. I waited until the end of their work day and they didn't come when before I started thinking about what I would do. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, so I ended up leaving the house and walking around for a place to eat. While I was walking, I passed a little shop that advertised itself as a fortune teller. I think I stood in front of that shop for a few minutes before finally walking away. I was so tempted to walk in and ask what happened to Felix. But I resisted and walked further down the street to a little restaurant and had something to eat. I stayed there looking out the window for an hour, poking at my food. When I was done, I took the same route home and passed the same fortune teller's shop.

I stopped in front of the shop again and saw that the lights were bright from the windows, indicating that someone was there to assist a walk in. I stood there a little longer staring at the shop. I was about to walk away, but I had some money left and gave into temptation this time. I doubted this fortune teller would be able to tell me anything useful about Felix, but I figured it was worth a try. When I walked in, there was an older woman sitting alone at a table looking at bones. I began to approach her slowly before she spoke.

"You needn't fear me, child. Come sit down." I was a little surprised, but realized she probably heard me walk in. So I walked a little faster until I reached her table. She looked up and her face was shrouded with wrinkles that betrayed her obvious age. And her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep. When I took a seat, she grabbed a hold of my hand, startling me. "Fear not, girl, I'm merely enquiring as to why you're here."

"I'm here because…" She shushed me and continued holding my palm. It sent a chill down my spine. A moment went by before she started talking again.

"You wish to know of a loved one. A man you loved long ago. Felix." She let go of my hand and looked at me again. "You wish to know what happened to him."

"He disappeared and we weren't able to find him."

"And this happened seven years ago. By now, he's either long out of Rome or dead." I got a little angry.

"I want you to tell which it is and how it happened." The woman sighed and reached down beside her and pulled up a human heart. It took me by surprise and she noticed.

"The person was dead when I took this. Calm yourself child." Then she reached for a knife and made a large incision into the heart. Once she finished, she pulled it apart so the cut portion was easily visible to her.

"This is what's going to tell you what happened to him?" She nodded.

"Your request is made from love. Love exists nowhere but the heart. I can't very well check for love in the liver now can I?" I sighed and didn't comment on her sarcasm. "I'm surprised a slave has the money to pay for this. Your master is very grateful to you obviously for helping him with his son." I sighed.

"Felix.."

"Felix asked you to. I know. In holding your hand, child, I already know what you'll have in response. Your history is all in my head now."

"Whatever you say." The old woman giggled.

"A skeptic I see. I suppose you don't want to know what happened to Felix." I shook my head.

"No, I want to know. Please tell me." The old woman smiled and looked back into the heart. She looked around for a moment, then looked confused. "What's wrong?"

"The signs are crossed."

"What does that mean?"

"There are crevices and lines that determine life and death. For Felix, these are crossed. It means he's between worlds. He's neither living, nor dead." I was silent a moment. I really wasn't sure if she was trying to fuck with me or if she honestly had no idea what she was talking about.

"How is that possible?" The old woman didn't answer me at first. She kept looking at the portion that had the crossed signs, then she started looking at other parts, then adding a deeper incision to the heart. "Please tell me what you're doing?"

"I'm trying to answer your question." Instead of arguing with her, I sat back and let her do what she was doing. As she was looking, her face seemed to become more horrified. Eventually, I couldn't stand to wait for her to talk to me anymore.

"What's wrong?" The woman looked a little scared. This surprised me.

"Your lover. Felix. He's no longer human. He's a monster that feeds on the blood of men." My eyes widened.

"Excuse me?"

"That day. When you cremated Lia. He left to go to his home to dispose of the bodies. When he came home, there was a blonde woman there. Beautiful and flawless. She was drinking his wife's blood. He walked closer in interest and asked who she was. Another woman, one of mahogany hair, grabbed him from behind having appeared suddenly. He fought them, but to no avail. The blonde bit his neck and the mahogany woman bit his ankle. The women's leader was impressed with his strength, so he asked him to ally himself with them. He agreed." She looked away from the meat and at me. "Forget about him." It was a moment before I could respond.

"Forget about him? How can you demand that?" The old woman shook her head.

"He's lost to you. To all humanity. Don't waste your heart on a creature that would sooner kill you than love you." Tears were beginning to burn my eyes. I took a few deep breaths to ensure that didn't happen. "He loved you, Jillian." I looked right into her eyes.

"He did?"

"Yes, he did. Keep that knowledge close and move on. He's lost to you now."

"I can't do that." The old woman sighed.

"I know you're hurt. But you know what happened to him." I shook my head.

"No, I don't. You've told me he's the undead. What does that mean? What is he?" The woman was silent a moment. I think she was reluctant to tell me. But she eventually did.

"He's a vampire, child. A human's natural enemy. They are a creature that drinks the blood of men and wander in the night out of our sight. For your sake, I suggest you let well enough alone."

The woman looked back into the meat and started making more incisions. One incision she made brought a concerned look to her face yet again. I wasn't sure if I could handle more surprises. She kept looking and her face gradually changed to further horror. I sat quietly for worse news. I was sure she would tell me something outrages happened to Felix and now he was truly dead or something of that nature. But instead, she stood away from the human heart and kept backing up. I stood up in response and she was covering her mouth in fear I could swear. Then she looked at me, took a deep breath, and motioned her hands towards me, telling me to leave.

"Your future is set. You must go now. You will see him again. You must be patient Jillian. Wait for Diti and Antonia. They will become your companions until you find your love again. Now go." I stood there dumbfounded a moment. I had no idea what she was so scared about. When I didn't leave immediately, she raised her voice slightly. "Go! You have a destiny that you can't walk away from. And remember. You will burn for three days. Then a new life will welcome you. Go, Jillian."

This time, I began backing away. Only because I was really scared of this woman now. I didn't want to listen to her gibberish anymore. She was probably wrong about the whole thing. I walked out of the shop and started walking down the street. It wasn't for another few blocks that I realized I was going the wrong way and had to turn around. When I passed the fortune teller again, there was a group of men there that I hadn't seen before who were clearly drunk and causing a great deal of noise. But I ignored them and tried walking past them without a word.

"Hey, woman!" I continued to ignore them both times when the man called to me. But the second time, he ran to me and grabbed my arm. Once he had a hold of me, he covered my mouth so no one could hear me scream and took me to the ally where his other friends were. "How does she look boys? The best part is she's free." The two other men laughed. The eldest one spoke.

"She'll do fine. I've had too much wine to care." He laughed, and the slightly younger man laughed with him.

"I hope she's a virgin." The man holding me chuckled evilly and tossed me to the eldest man. They began tearing at my clothes and I continued to scream. "I'm in the mood for something clean."

I kept screaming and fighting them off as much as I could, but they were both stronger than me. While I was fighting them, I remembered something that Felix had taught me. When I was still at the whore house, Felix taught me a few forms of self defense. At the time, I had thought it was a little strange to teach me self defense, but right now, I was grateful I remembered everything he taught me. The eldest man grabbed my hair from behind, so I used my free arm, twisted the arm that was in my hair until he let go and heard his arm crack. I didn't stop at that. Felix had taught me that while I had my attacker in this grip, I would have the opportunity to punch him. So with the palm of my other free hand, I started slamming my palm into his face, not stopping because I was so scared. By the time I stopped, his entire face was almost nonexistent anymore and there was blood all over from his cracked skull and misshaped nose.

I was so stunned with what I'd done, but I tried throwing the best punch I could at one of the other men. It ended up being the first one to grab me and he hit his head on the bricks and fell to the ground. But the last one standing managed to get a hold of me that I couldn't get away from and I had to go back to screaming again. All I could do was loosen his grip enough times that he couldn't do what he wanted. Out of reflex, I ended up elbowing his nose, breaking it. While he was disoriented, I looked around for any weapon I could. I kept looking but when I found something I could use, I felt a sharp pain in my side from a knife in my lower back. I screamed in pain and fell, expecting it to get worse. But while I was waiting for another stab from the knife, I heard the man yelp, then I heard a defining crack and the man fell to the ground. I turned on my side that wasn't hurt and saw a woman with black hair and pale olive skin standing before me.

When that man was down, she bit into his neck and remained there for a few minutes. She did the same thing to the other two men and sighed in joy when she was done. When she was done, she looked at me with a contented smile on her face. I tried crawling away, but she was before me in an instant and then she kneeled down so I could see her face. It was a beautiful face with almost an innocent look to it. But the innocence was muddled by her bright red eyes.

"I have to say, I owe you one. You saved me the trouble of hunting." I was shaking violently now. I had no idea what she was and I didn't know what she would do to me.

"What…." I tried asking her what she wanted, but I was in so much pain and my voice was weak from screaming.

"I'm not sure I should explain anything to you. You did me a favor and all, but from what I can tell, you were hit in a bad spot. I can either take pity on you and change you, or be cruel and kill you now. Frankly, I'm forced to do one or the other regardless."

"Please….just…." The woman hushed me and kept looking at me thoughtfully.

"Let me think." The woman was silent as she looked at me for a moment. She pushed my hand away that was covering my wound and looked at it. She looked really uncomfortable for a moment. Then she let go and let me cover it again and sighed. "I don't have the heart to kill you. It seems so unfair to have your life end at the hand of another. I'll change you. It might not be much better, but I doubt it's worse than death. I never thought it so anyway. What's your name?"

"Jil..lia..n"

"Jillian. That's a pretty name. I'm Antonia." I felt a chill go down my spine then. She kept smiling at me and grabbed a hold of me and tossed me over her shoulder. It was so gentle, I barely noticed she was lifting me. "I better get you out of the city before I change you. I wouldn't want your screaming to attract attention."

I questioned her when she started running, but she didn't answer me no matter how many times I asked. As she was running, she seemingly jumped to the top of the buildings in one grand leap. For all I could tell, it was one jump. I wasn't paying much attention to her anymore. After running for a few seconds, Antonia stopped and started talking to someone.

"You going somewhere with your food Antonia? You're not even going to share with me?"

"I'm not eating her, Diti. I'm planning to change her. She saved me the trouble of killing my food for the most part and one of them stabbed her. I feel bad for her, so I'm changing her." Diti shrugged.

"There's no middle line I suppose. Did you leave some blood for me?"

"What do you think, Diti?" I heard Diti hiss, but I couldn't see what was happening. I could only hear them talking.

"Such a greedy bitch." They shared a laugh and then Antonia began running again. This time she never stopped and she gently placed me on the ground when we were in the part of the woods that she deemed appropriate.

"I'm going to bite your wrist alright? That's often a good place. Once I bite, you'll feel like you're burning. But don't worry, you're not. This will last three days, so be prepared." I wasn't bothering with being surprised anymore. It seemed stupid by now.

Without further warning, Antonia brought my wrist to her mouth and bit down, making me scream. I only felt warmth for a moment, but once the burning started, I resisted screaming. But once I started feeling the pain all over, I couldn't hold it in anymore and I screamed loud enough that blood was running from the ears of anyone unfortunate enough to be too close at the moment. I'm sure Antonia was talking at some points while I was burning, but I didn't hear her. I couldn't concentrate on anything but the pain. I couldn't even seem to count the days judging by the sun. I couldn't pay attention to it, no matter how hard I tried. It was the longest three days of my life. It felt much longer. I was able to concentrate when I noticed the pain was starting to go away.

Eventually, the burning was only in my heart, which I could hear pounding furiously. But when the burning was gone, so was my heartbeat as I breathed out. When I breathed in again, I didn't feel any relief from it. In fact, it burned in my throat. But I could taste everything. It was wondrous and unexpected. And when I opened my eyes, I could see everything. I saw dust particles, I saw rays from the sun, I even saw colors that I never knew existed before now. I sat up and looked at Antonia, who was sitting next to me with a big smile. There were rays of sun hitting her skin and she sparkled from the light. I looked at my hand that was also in sunlight and saw the same thing on my skin.

"My god you're a screamer. But I'm happy to see you out of it at last. How do you feel?" I wasn't sure how to answer her. I felt stronger in a sense, but I was parched as if my throat was so dried that it had cracks.

"I'm thirsty." Antonia nodded.

"I know. It'll be night in a few hours, so we'll go back to the city and hunt then. Unless we can attack a drover cart before that."

"What are you talking about?"

"You need blood, Jillian. We'll get you some as soon as possible."

"What am I?"

"A vampire, Jillian." I was a little stunned, but I wasn't surprised at all. I'd stopped being surprised by the fortune teller's predictions, though she didn't actually tell me this was what would happen to me. All she said was that my destiny was set.

"You said your name is Antonia?" She smiled.

"I'm surprised you remember. Most newborns don't remember much of their human life."

"Really? I remember everything." She looked surprised.

"Really? It's not even blurry?" I shrugged.

"Not especially. Only events that I don't especially remember. But those were memories I didn't really see a need to remember." Antonia smiled.

"You're lucky then. Most don't remember much. I'd savor that if I were you." Antonia came to attention a moment, then looked at me with a sinister smile. "I smell them. It's not drovers. But whoever they are, I'm sure they'll taste delicious."

Antonia lifted me to my feet and began running towards the smell. I smelled it too and followed after her. It was a smell like metal. We came across a caravan of six men that were carting a large cart down a road away from a city. It must've been money. But I wasn't uninterested in that and went right for the gullet of the driver without a second thought as to what I was doing. It wasn't until after Antonia and I had brought everyone under the cover of trees and I'd drank most of their blood before I started thinking and was horrified by what I'd done so willingly. Antonia kept reassuring me that it was natural and that I'd get used to it. We ended up leaving the cart where it was. She told me that Aro would probably go for it when he found it. That led into a discussion about the Volturi and why she had the choice of killing me or changing me. I started thinking about what the fortune teller told me. She'd said Felix was a part of something in this new life. I wondered if maybe the Volturi was what she was talking about. I told Antonia, and she didn't know about any new members of the Volturi, but she figured the less one knew about them, the better. It meant you didn't encounter them, which was apparently the best thing to do. When Antonia found someone she'd been looking for, the woman smiled. She was clearly Indian and was a very beautiful one at that, even with her sinister face.

"She turned out well." Antonia nodded.

"Yep. So, Diti, do you mind having a new coven member?" Diti shrugged.

"I don't see the harm. Especially if she's bi-curious." Diti giggled and I felt uncomfortable. Antonia laughed and rolled her eyes.

"You never know. But at least get to know her before you start trying to get under her skirt why don't you." Diti smiled evilly at me.

"I'll try. But she's certainly something worth going for." I shook my head.

"I'm not interested in women that way." Diti's face fell just a little.

"Oh well. I can always go for an old lover." Antonia laughed.

"You're such a whore, Diti."

I didn't talk much to them that first day. I wasn't sure if I had anything in common with these women. All I knew was the fortune teller had told me to stick with them. She'd been right so far, so I figured it couldn't hurt. And they were nice once I was used to them and they were used to me. I never slept with Diti, but it certainly wasn't because of lack of trying on her part. Antonia didn't remember her human life. But I found out that Diti's father had been a good's trader and had brought her and her mother with him to Rome and she was changed shortly after coming here. I never forgot anything that I wanted to hold dear from my human life. I remembered everything the fortune teller said to me, I remembered what happened to me, my family before Rome, how Lia died, Florinian and his son, and most importantly, Felix. I would never allow myself to forget him. And because I wanted to keep my promise, I looked out for Florinian and Felix, but from afar.

Felix eventually inherited the bar like his father had wanted. And he married the little girl who turned into a beautiful woman that he'd met the night I was killed and they had three beautiful children. The two girls, the oldest named after his mother and the second named after me, and a son named Felix. That all made me smile. And once Felix senior had passed away and his children were grown and on their own, I decided to let them go and live their lives without me. I stayed with Antonia and Diti for centuries until it was the winter of 2003. That's when I'd lost a little hope in the fortune teller and went on my own. I stayed in Rome mostly by myself. I'd heard about the fall of the Volturi, but I didn't believe it for a second. It wasn't plausible to me. I stayed alone for the most part. And for years that was my routine. I'd lost hope that anything would change and I kept to myself as the little lady that everyone saw but no one knew.


	15. The Denalis: Frigged

**Frigged**

**(Modern Day) St. Petersburg, Russia 224 a.d**

The wind outside was freezing and close to unbearable. Irina and Katrina were out together getting some firewood. They were trying to work fast. The snow was bitter cold and Irina was complaining that she could feel herself turning to ice. The whole time, both were looking forward to a hot fire to warm them up. Once they had enough firewood, they ran back to the small one room wood house they had out in the woods and went straight to the fireplace made from stone and placed the wood within easy reach to the fireplace and took a seat right before the fire waiting to be warmed up. Their father had built them this house many years ago, putting them in better living conditions than most of their friends and acquaintances.

And he'd built the fireplace to perfection, making sure they'd always have heat and something to cook their meat. Unfortunately, their father had died of disease many years before and they were now all alone. Sasha had many gentleman suitors that were young and well prepared to care for a family, but she didn't want to remarry. She'd found her love and had lost him and knew she'd never love another man the way she loved Tanya, Katrina, and Irina's father. Of course, there were plenty of men more than willing to marry one of her daughters, but she wasn't ready to give them away. She thought they were doing better than most and marrying her daughters off wasn't necessary.

"Once you're warmed up, girls, do me a favor and hang a pot of water over the fire please."

"Yes, mother." Irina and Katrina said in unison as they held their hands close to the fire to warm themselves up. Sometimes in these Russian winters, gloves, well made boots, and heavy clothes weren't always enough to keep you warm when it was in the middle of the winter. Katrina couldn't wait for summer. That's when their home was pleasant. It never got too hot and it was warm enough that she could walk outside with a nothing but boots and a long sleeved shirt.

Once they were warmed up, they retrieved the freshly cleaned pot from the corner and placed it over the fire. It was a pot made of bone, so it wasn't very big. But it always served its purpose for about seven uses before the fire ate away at the bone completely. Once over the fire, Irina went outside to retrieve several pieces of ice so it could start melting for the stock. There was still meat left from the animal whose bones were being used to make the soup, so Katrina was sure to have that cut up and ready to throw into the pot while Irina got the cabbage Sasha had sliced up at the fire and ready. All that was left was to wait for the fish to be done.

"I wish there was something more we could do to this soup. As is, it's so bland."

"We should use cranberries." Katrina scrunched her nose.

"No, certainly not. They would make the soup sour and not in a pleasant way. Besides, we'd be lucky to find a bucket's worth of cranberries in a year." Irina sighed.

"I know. I remember when we did find some. They were so tasty."

"Not in my soup they weren't." Irina and Katrina giggled and rested their heads against each other's and watched the fire under the bone bowl. Not long after that, Tanya finished prepping the fish and started butchering it until the fish was in large cubes and deboned.

"Is the water boiling yet?" Tanya walked over to her sisters at the fireplace while they both shook their heads and Irina answered.

"Almost. We just need to leave it a little while longer." Irina turned to look at Tanya. "What fish is that?" Tanya shrugged.

"No idea. It's the one I managed to catch first. It's too cold out to do any real fishing. Maybe when it's finally summer again, we'll be able to do something with more fish, but for the time being, be happy with what we have." Katrina shivered and groaned.

"I hate winter. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it."

"Everyone hates winter, Kate. But it's a part of life."

"I know that. But I still hate winter." Everyone had a quick smile and the water began boiling.

"Kate, start putting in the cabbage will you? The water looks like it's boiling." Katrina glanced at the water, then put the cabbages in as Tanya told her to. Sasha walked over and started throwing in some roots that would make the soup taste a little better. Regardless, it helped the soup to be less bland. That and the variety of cabbage they had this time definitely helped.

"I can't wait for this to be done cooking. I'm so hungry." Sasha patted Irina on the head gently.

"It'll be done cooking by sundown, sweetie. Let's try to go to sleep early tonight too, while we're at it. This is the last of the meat, so I think it would be best that we find another deer or a few rabbits." Irina sighed.

"I miss father. He could always come home with more than enough meat for us all." Everyone was silent a moment while they thought of their late loved one. Sasha sighed and smiled a little.

"He was always a good man for that. Maybe once the time's right, you girls can find good men for yourselves and we'll all be taken good care of." Tanya smiled.

"If you would let us marry, mother."

"I'll let a man marry my daughter when he's good enough. I fear I've yet to be impressed."

"Are you sure it's not because you just want to keep us around, mother?" Sasha smiled and kissed Tanya's cheek.

"It's a little of that too I'll admit." There was a collective smile as everyone was gathered around the fireplace keeping an eye on the food. Once the water was finally at a rolling boil and was getting a little color from the roots and cabbage, Tanya added all the meat into the pot so it could start cooking. The smell of the soup began to fill the room when there was a knock at the door. Sasha stood and walked to the door to answer it.

"Hello?" At the door was a young man holding a few rabbits. He had a thick beard and thick brown hair and was wearing layer upon layer of animal fur like the rest of them. Sasha smiled when she knew who it was. "Rufus. It's a pleasure." Rufus smiled.

"Hello, Sasha. We caught a few extra rabbits, so I thought you would want some meat." Sasha smiled and took the rabbits when he handed them to her.

"Well, that's so sweet of you. We're about to have dinner. Would you like to join us?" Rufus smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Sasha, I would love to." Sasha smiled and moved aside so Rufus could walk in. Rufus was one of the men that had taken a liking to Tanya. Sasha was fond of him since he was being far more patient than the other men interested. He simply showered them with help and food with hopes that Sasha would eventually cave and allow him to marry Tanya. "Evening, Tanya. You're looking beautiful as ever." Tanya smiled.

"How kind of you to say, Rufus." Rufus smiled and walked a little closer to Tanya and took her hand in his to kiss it sweetly.

"How've you been? I haven't seen you in a few days."

"I've been nice. I'm happy to know you were thinking about me all those days." Rufus smiled shyly and let go of Tanya's hand.

"Of course I am." Interrupting them, Sasha grabbed Rufus's arm to get his attention.

"So, Rufus, how fairs your mother and father?"

"They're well. Mother sends her regards and demands to know why you've not visited her in so long." Sasha smiled.

"Be sure to send my apologies. We've just been working so hard this winter. It feels like everything's in short supplies these days." Rufus nodded.

"I know what you mean."

"And yet you bring us four rabbits that you could keep for yourselves. I feel horrible accepting them." Rufus shook his head.

"Please, don't feel that way. We had a good day and it seemed cruel to keep them when I know you guys can use all the help with hunting you can get."

"I still feel like we're inconveniencing you." Rufus shook his head again.

"Never. Not at all." Irina giggled.

"He only says that because he wants to marry Tanya. We all know it's true." Sasha gave Irina a stern look and Irina stayed quiet while Rufus chuckled with embarrassment.

"I can't pretend that isn't partially true. But rest assured, I would do this even if I didn't care for Tanya." Tanya smiled at Rufus and Sasha sighed and smiled.

"One day. Don't worry. When I'm ready to be rid of her, you can have her." Rufus chuckled and looked at Tanya.

"She'll never let me marry you." Tanya giggled and walked over to Rufus and gave him a quick hug before going back to the fireplace to check on the soup that was still cooking away. Sasha smiled.

"Please don't say never. You'll have her someday." Rufus and Sasha smiled at each other and they finally ate dinner together when all the meat in the soup looked like it was completely cooked. Rufus eventually left Sasha and her daughters when they were done eating dinner and had pleasant conversation.

They all took a moment to clean the house and bowls and put out the fire before finally going to bed for the night. In the morning, all four stayed home together, no longer needing to go out and gather any food seeing as Rufus did the work for them. With the free time to spare, they all sat together at the fire and cooked up one of the rabbits that Rufus had brought them the day before.

"It's so nice to stay in for a change." Sasha nodded at Katrina's statement with a smile.

"Indeed it is. It reminds me a little of when your father was alive. He used to spoil us, that man." Sasha laughed gently at the pleasant memory and sighed a little while thinking about her late husband. Then she looked at Tanya, who was sitting with her sisters before the fire and sighed again. "Tanya."

"Yes, mother?"

"How do you feel about Rufus? And answer me honestly, please. I know I tease about promising you to him, but if you don't love him, then I will understand." Tanya looked at Sasha with a little surprise. She was silent a moment before finally answering.

"I…..I don't know what to say."

"Tell me how you feel about Rufus. That's all I want." Tanya was silent again for a moment before answering.

"I care for him. He's so kind to us and helps us whenever we need him to. And he's very handsome. I think our children would be lovely, so that's a good thing. And if I married him, our lives would be a lot easier in all honesty."

"So does that mean you would want to marry him?" Tanya smiled and nodded.

"Yes. I would love to marry him. He's a good man and any woman would be lucky to have him. I'd love for that lucky woman to be me." Sasha grinned and hugged Tanya.

"I'm so happy honey. I'll tell him I would approve of him marrying you. And if he accepts you, then he can move in with us. We'll even add a room so you two can have some privacy. How does that sound?"

"It sounds wonderful, mother." Sasha and Tanya hugged for a little longer while Katrina and Irina joined in the hug, partially because it would make them warmer. Later that day, Rufus stopped by the house and Sasha told the girls to prepare dinner while she took Rufus outside to talk.

"What do you want to talk to me about, Sasha?" Sasha smiled.

"Well, I realize that I've been stubborn and you've been doing your best to be patient with me. And I think that under the circumstances and considering your kindness and generosity to us, that it's time I finally give you what you've earned." Rufus was a little surprised.

"What are you talking about, Sasha?" Sasha smiled wider.

"What would you say if I told you I think it's about time Tanya had a husband?" Rufus's face seemed to light up when Sasha said that and he grinned from ear to ear.

"I would ask you I could marry your daughter this coming spring." Sasha nodded her head with the same smile.

"Spring sounds delightful. And we would love for you to move into our home. I fear we do not know how to build another room onto the house, but I was hoping you and a few others might know how. That way you and Tanya could have a room for yourselves. I do expect grandchild, as I'm sure you're aware." Rufus kept smiling and shook Sasha's hand.

"Of course, Sasha, as many as you would like. I can't thank you enough for this."

"You can thank me by walking inside and asking my daughter to marry you." Rufus nodded eagerly and left Sasha with an, 'of course, ma'am', and went straight into the house with Sasha following close behind. When Rufus walked in, Tanya was at the fireplace with Katrina and Irina and they all looked up and saw Rufus walk in.

"Rufus, it's a pleasure to see you." With a smile, Tanya stood up and walked a little closer to Rufus. "Did mother tell you anything special?" Rufus chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, she did. She said I could ask you to marry me." Tanya grinned a little wider.

"Are you going to?" Rufus chuckled.

"I thought I just had. But forgive me for not being blunt." Rufus took Tanya's left hand in his before speaking again. "So will you marry me, Tanya?" Tanya kept smiling and finally nodded her head.

"Yes, Rufus, I will marry you." They smiled at each other a little longer when Katrina said a word of praise for the new happy couple.

"It's about damn time! It'll be nice to have a man around the house at long last. Now we don't have to worry about hunting on our own anymore. We've got Rufus to do that for us. And hey, if you give us a few nephews, we'll have even more help." Rufus and Tanya laughed at Katrina's comment and Tanya walked over to Katrina and gave her a hug.

"I'm glad to see you're so excited about my upcoming nuptials."

"Of course I'm glad. And once you two are married, you can reward the poor man for making him wait so long for you and we can put him to good use. That's all I'm saying." Irina giggled and joined Tanya in hugging Katrina.

"She's just happy to see you in high spirits. We know that's what this is." They all smiled and continued to hug one another while Rufus and Sasha stood close to each other with a smile on both their faces. Once Tanya and the others were done hugging, she looked back at Rufus and walked over to him and took a hold of his hands in hers.

"So when should we get married?"

"How about in the spring? That gives me and some men time to add onto the house and it'll be much nicer weather in spring." Sasha agreed.

"That would be wonderful. We've got time until it's spring. Well, first things first. We need to have your mother and father come here for dinner. It's been so long since I've seen your mother anyway that I feel like we're strangers."

"Believe me, mother is in agreement."

"And of course, we'll need to get a proper dowry together for the wedding. I think we can put together something nice." Rufus shook his head.

"No, don't worry about a dowry. If I'm moving into this house, I'd say that we're not ill-equipped."

"Oh, but Rufus." Rufus held up his hands.

"I insist. If you wish, you can think of the added room as the dowry for our marriage. It'll give me and Tanya some alone time when we want it, and that's about all that would be lacking as of now." Sasha smiled.

"Well, if you insist on having that be your dowry, then who am I to complain." Rufus smiled and walked to the group and hugged Tanya.

Rufus stayed for dinner that night and had his family over for dinner the next night, his mother bringing dinner for everyone to share. Sasha and Rufus's mother, Hetalia, spent most of the evening catching up with each other as opposed to sorting out details about the wedding. His father eventually got Sasha and Hetalia back on topic and did most of the talking on what would need to be done to prepare for the ceremony. Rufus could tell his father wasn't too pleased with the dowry that was agreed upon the day before, but since Sasha and her family didn't have much else to offer, he held his tongue and let it go. He eventually figured that a house was a good enough dowry even if it would still house the bride's family.

As soon as the weather was partially better, Rufus got a bunch of men together to help him work on adding a room to the house that Sasha's husband had built years before. Rufus and the other men that assisted him managed to get the addition done within a few long days. And before either Rufus or Tanya knew it, it was already spring and the snow was melting and they began planning for the wedding more actively. It wouldn't take long to plan anyway. The dress would take the most time and Sasha and her daughters were all making it together.

"Are you excited about getting married, Tanya?" Tanya smiled at Kate.

"Of course I am. I just can't believe the time went by so quickly." Sasha laughed a little without humor.

"You don't have to tell me twice, Tanya. This is why I was reluctant. I feel like I'm losing my baby."

"Mother, I'll still be living with you. You won't be losing me."

"I know. But you're not a little girl anymore."

"I haven't been a little girl for a long time, mother."

"But I could pretend you were. But with a husband, you're far from a little girl." Irina giggled.

"That is the point isn't it?" Sasha sighed.

"I suppose you're right. It doesn't make the transition any easier though." Katrina looked at Sasha.

"You've still got us, mother. And remember why you decided to let Rufus marry Tanya in the first place."

"I know, I know."

After that, they all sat together in silence working on Tanya's wedding dress that they were making from the fur of winter rabbit coats like what was traditional. They finished sewing the dress that evening and made Tanya put it on and stand still while they made any needed adjustments to it. Once Sasha had sewed a few parts up so they were tighter and Katrina and Irina made sure the hem of the dress was even, they all backed away to look at her, Sasha with tears in her eyes.

"Oh, honey, you look beautiful." Tanya smiled.

"Really?" Irina nodded.

"A vision, Tanya." Tanya smiled at everyone and wished that they had a mirror so she could see for herself. A moment of trying on the dress went on, then they heard someone scream from outside. It sounded like a man and Sasha looked at Irina.

"Irina, look outside and see what that was. If you can't see just from standing at the door, then don't bother and come right back in." Irina reluctantly walked to the door and looked out. She didn't immediately see anything. She just saw the woods, then she came back in and closed the door. "You didn't see anything?" Irina shook her head.

"Nothing. It must've been further in the woods." Sasha sighed.

"Alright. Kate, burn out the fire. I don't want any light coming from this house. If it's a possible intruder, I'd rather make it seem like we're not home." Katrina ran to the fire and started putting it out as Sasha ordered by separating the wood, then tossed some water over the fire to finally put it out. "Now everyone be quiet for now."

Everyone did as Sasha said and stayed completely silent while they all listened for any noise from outside. About two minutes went by without a sound, but they all remained silent and waited for any sign that there was a form of activity in the woods. After another two minutes, Sasha relaxed and sighed.

"Okay, Irina, put the fire back on. It's getting cold in here and I think whatever that was in gone. But I don't want anyone going outside or answering the door without asking who it is." Irina stood and went to the fireplace and started replacing the wood and rubbing some together to spark a fire.

"Do you think whoever it was is gone?" Sasha nodded at Katrina.

"I think so. I couldn't hear anything, so maybe they went away from our village. But I'd rather remain cautious for now. So let's try to stay quiet for a little longer." Once the fire was finally lit again, they all gathered around the fire to warm up and stayed relatively silent, still weary of what might still be in the area.

"How do we know it wasn't just an animal attack?" Sasha looked at Tanya.

"All the more reason not to leave the house. A wolf can't get passed a door last time I checked." They all smiled a little at each other and stayed quiet again. This time, they started hearing footsteps that seemed a lot faster than what they should be. It was almost like those steps were barely hitting the ground. "Shhh."

Sasha made the gesture to encourage them to remain silent as they listened outside. Sasha assumed that it was an animal outside and didn't feel the need to ask Irina to put out the fire again. They waited quietly for whatever was outside to hopefully go away. Then Sasha noticed something odd. The sound stopped and she couldn't hear any breathing or animal sounds. Only a person would be this quiet. Then a chill creeped up all their spines when the door was opened by a man they'd never seen before. He was extremely pale, even for the area they lived and Sasha noticed his red eyes first and foremost. The man smiled and they all backed away slightly at the sight.

"Evening, ladies. It's a nice day outside. Why waist it away?" None of them answered him and he sighed at their silence. "Forgive me for trying to be pleasant. I'll just get this over with." In an instant, the man was at Sasha's side taking a bite into her throat and everyone started screaming. They all started hitting his stone hard body with no other idea what to do to get him off their mother. Irina grabbed a piece of wood from the pile and started hitting him with that.

In irritation, the man turned his attention to Irina, throwing Sasha to the ground. Katrina and Tanya immediately went to her, then backed away in surprise when she started screaming from the burn in her neck that was spreading through her body. Their attention was drawn back to the man who was now attacking Irina after he's thrown the wood she was holding off to the side. Katrina ran to get a knife and attempted to stab him while Tanya grabbed some wood straight from the fireplace. Katrina made the first move, but the man bit her wrist when she made the attempt and he violently pushed her down. But then Tanya got to him and tried kicking him. He then dropped Irina, who was still alive and was now feeling the burn herself, as well as Katrina, and bit Tanya. But Tanya made one last attempt and hit him with the portion of wood that was on fire.

The man burst into flames and threw Tanya to the ground and ran out of the house to put himself out, though he was too far from any form of water and died before he could save himself. Tanya fell to the ground in pain, not noticing she dropped the burning wood too. She was in so much pain and could barely concentrate on anything else. But she forced her eyes opened and realized that the house was on fire. She tried to move seemingly in vain, but she forced herself to her feet despite the pain and pulled her two sisters and mother out of the house and far away so they wouldn't get hurt. The moment they were all out, Tanya couldn't take anymore and she fell to the ground screaming. Hearing the noise from the village, Rufus ran to Tanya's home and saw the smoke and fire before he saw Tanya and her family outside the house, all screaming in pain.

"Tanya!" Rufus ran to Tanya's side, trying to get her to talk to him. But all she could do was scream. Not after Rufus found them, other men from the village came to see what all the screaming was about.

"What the hell are they all screaming about?" The eldest man in the group yelled in an effort to be heard.

"I don't know. I found them like this." As Rufus was talking, he noticed that they all had bite marks on them that were still bleeding lightly. "It looks like someone bit them." The eldest man looked at his son who was standing next to him.

"You and your brother see if you can find anyone suspicious. I don't they would've gotten far. Follow the footsteps." His son nodded and ran down the path where there were footprints. They looked more like empty circles in the ground and the dead grass underneath the snow looked like it was burned.

Rufus kept trying to talk to Tanya and all her sisters and mother trying to get one of them to talk. Tanya tried speaking, but she was in so much pain that talking was more than she could stand to do. All she felt was fire even though she wasn't burning. It wasn't long before the elder's sons came back, both of them a little stunned.

"There was a man on the trail that was on fire. He was already dead…and it didn't smell like burning flesh. It smelled more like something sweet was burning. The sweet smell was so thick even with the cold." The elder looked at his sons confused.

"Are you sure it was a man?" The son nodded.

"Positive. He was even moving a little. We tried throwing snow on him, but we could put it out. And the smoke was purple. I've never seen smoke like that."

"What the hell are you talking about, boy?" The sons both stayed quiet. The elder looked to his right at a man at random. "Go down the trail and look for yourself. Tell me exactly what you saw." The man did as instructed and ran down the path the way the sons went.

"Father, we aren't lying to you. The smoke was purple and it smelled so sweet." The younger son nodded.

"That's right, father, we swear. It was so strange. Something's not right, father." The man that had gone to check came back with wide eyes.

"They aren't lying sir. There's a dead burning body down the trail and it's burning purple smoke and a sweet smell. Whatever it is, it's sure as hell not human."

"Well, then what the hell is it?" They were all yelling at each other in an attempt to be heard, and eventually, Rufus had enough.

"Well, whatever it is, it's dead now. We need to help Tanya and the others. They're in pain."

"And what can we do? We don't even know what's wrong."

"Get the medicine man. He'll know what to do."

"Fine. Boys, you heard him. Get Boris and tell him we have four women screaming in pain and are in need of his expertise." The older son did as instructed and ran back towards the village to get their medicine man. They all stood in a circle around Tanya and her family as they kept screaming in pain. Sasha was the first one to stop screaming. It wasn't helping and it wasn't making her throat hurt even more.

"What's all this screaming?" Everyone turned their heads and saw Boris, the medicine man, come running at an elderly pace. The elder was the one to answer.

"We don't know. They were screaming when we showed up and they all have bite marks on them. We were hoping you knew what was going on. We think we may have found their attacker down the road, but it's burning purple sweet smoke, so we don't even know if it's human." Boris stopped in his tracks. He knew exactly what had happened. The same thing happened to a young girl he'd known long ago. There was nothing they could do for her then, and there's nothing he could do now. "What's wrong, Boris?"

"I can't help them. They're doomed to die." Rufus looked right at Boris and stood.

"Don't say that." Then he started walking to Boris and didn't stop until right in front of him. "There has to be something you can do. You're a medicine man for fuck sake."

"I'm a medicine man, Rufus, not a miracle worker. They're all dying as we speak. All we can do is put them and ourselves out of our misery now and get it over with."

"What the hell are you talking about?" The medicine man sighed and finally explained.

"When I was younger, I knew a woman that several my age can attest to knowing. Her name was Olga and she was a kind girl who was newly married with a child on the way. One day, her husband came home from hunting and found another man there. His first instinct was to think his wife was being unfaithful and he barged in demanding to know what was going on. But his wife screamed for him to run away. He noticed that there was a bite mark on her wrist before doing as if wife said and running away. I don't know why that man didn't try to run after him, but he didn't. He came to my father's home screaming that there was a man he didn't know attacking his wife. We all ran to his house and the man was gone, but his wife was still there and was screaming so loudly our ears were bleeding. My father did all he could to save her, but she just kept getting colder and colder, and she kept getting paler. But her heart kept beating. But three days after the incident, I saw my father and mother on the floor completely drained of blood and Olga was gone and three people were missing with her. They were found not long after in the same condition as my parents. There's no doubt in my mind that Olga was responsible for the death of those people as well." Rufus interrupted Boris.

"What are you saying? That my bride-to-be is turning into a cannibal?" Boris shook his head.

"Not a cannibal, Rufus. You have to be a human feasting on other humans to be a cannibal. What they're becoming isn't human. They're blood drinkers, Rufus, and that's what Tanya and her family are becoming. And there's nothing we can do except kill them while we're still able to stop the process. It's kinder to kill them now than to leave it and let them become monsters."

"No, you can't do that."

"Rufus, I understand you're mad to lose a bride, but this is out of my control and everyone else's. We need to kill them, for the wellbeing of the village. She won't be who you knew. I think I made my point valid when I explained the situation with Olga."

"There has to be something we can do."

"Rufus, there isn't. They're going to die no matter what we do." People who remembered the incident that Boris was referring to nodded their heads in agreement.

Rufus kept trying to talk reason with the men while they did the same to him. Sasha didn't hear much for lack of being able to listen for very long, but all she heard for certain was, "we need to kill them". Sasha was pretty much hoping for death, but something in her made her try to fight it. While the men were arguing amongst each other, Sasha did what she could to get her daughters away from the group. It was slow and she was fighting screams, but her daughters were still screaming, so it wasn't hard to hide the sounds she was making. The men kept arguing heatedly and Rufus began to get slightly violent when all the men turned around to go towards the village to get their weapons. Sasha managed to get the girls and herself a few meters into the woods before she had to stop for a moment. But despite the pain she was in, she kept forcing herself to move herself and her daughters further into the forest so they could be safe from the men that were now hunting them.

Sasha managed to get her daughters and herself a mile away from their home by the early morning the next day before she couldn't stand it anymore and she just collapsed and let herself burn some more. For all four of them, the days went by very slowly and the pain they were feeling never eased. The men were all surprised to see Sasha and the others weren't where they left them and noticed the trail Sasha had left while she was trying to get her daughters away. Rufus managed to convince everyone to just leave them be and to go back to the village. He knew he'd never be able to hurt Tanya or her family and he didn't want to be forced to, regardless of the situation, so he made the village leave well enough alone and no one tried looking for them.

Sasha was the first one to notice a change after days of not knowing more than she was in pain. But then the pain began leaving her toes and fingers and continued straight to her heart for mere minutes, then her heart stopped and she breathed out her last living breath. She sat up when she was completely recovered and in complete awe of what she could see and hear. She could hear the villagers a mile and a half away from where they were going about their daily chores and animals in the forest doing the same. Tanya, Irina, and Katrina followed after their mom when they recovered. Irina was in a spot where the sun touched her skin and she noticed she was sparkling like clear water.

"Mother, I'm sparkling." Sasha and the others looked at Irina and just stared for a moment before Katrina held her hand in the light and noticed the same thing happened to her. Then Tanya and Sasha did it, and they were all surprised.

"What are we?" Katrina asked this question, but no one answered. No one knew the answer. But Tanya made a guess.

"That man who attacked us. I think we might be what he was." Then Tanya noticed her throat felt painfully dry and mentioned it. When she said something about it, they all had that at the front of their minds and none could bare to talk anymore.

"Blood. We need blood." Irina stared at Sasha wide eyed.

"What?"

"That man attacked us because he wanted our blood. That's what we need right now. I'm certain." Tanya, having another concern, spoke next.

"What will we do about our past life?" Sasha wasn't slow to answer.

"We can't go back. They'll never accept us for what we are now."

"Then what are we going to do?" Sasha was silent a moment to think of the best way to answer Tanya.

"The only thing we can do. Wonder around and hunt. We don't have any other choice."

"But mother…" Katrina was the one to speak and she touched her mother, but then she fell over and was down for a second. Katrina and the others were all stunned, as was Sasha when she recovered.

"What was that?"

"I don't know." They were all silent a moment, then Sasha decided to ignore it and got back to what she had been saying before.

"We'll have to become nomads. Maybe we can settle down somewhere some day, but for now, we can't just wander into a village. They'll noticed our red eyes and will know from the start something's not right about us and they won't let us stay."

There was a collective silence amongst them, but they eventually agreed that was the only option that was open to them. Tanya was heartbroken to know that she was leaving Rufus and the life they could've had together behind, but she also knew that it couldn't be helped and never spoke of what she was feeling. They all stayed together for years depending on one another and learning about themselves and Katrina's interesting gift for using lightening at her fingertips, even if it was menial. In a manner, Sasha was able to keep things the way she wanted it. She didn't have to give up her daughters anymore because they didn't need that type of support in this life. So once she was used to it, she found she was happier now than she had been before. She kept that bit of information to herself, but to the end, it always made her smile to think about it.e mhe


	16. That Little Boy

That Little Boy

**Modern Day Moscow, 236 a.d.**

It was finally spring, so Sasha and her coven were able to hunt regularly again. Russian winters made it so difficult to catch scents that they needed to migrate somewhere south until weather conditions got better. Of course, the downfall to the weather was that so many people usually died through the winter and carried their diseases into spring if they lived long enough. In truth, there was no good place to hunt. Everyone was either sick or already drained of blood from the fastest vampire.

"Maybe we should just stay south permanently. If nothing else, we'll have an easier time finding people all year round." Sasha shook her head at Kate.

"No. The hotter it is, the more parasite and disease ridden they are. It doesn't matter where we go. Besides, I'd rather stay as far away from that Volturi coven we've heard so much about as possible."

"Mother, you heard what others have said. They only kill you if you make yourself known to humans or something. We don't do that, we're golden."

"I still say we stay up north. Besides, southern countries smell funny. The heat makes everything worse." Knowing her mother wasn't going to change her mind, Kate stayed quiet and they continued to all walk together through the woods trying to find someone to eat. While they were walking, they all passed a village. But like most of the other villages they passed, it was riddled with disease and hardly enough human blood to satisfy all four of them.

"Should we look for someone clean?" Sasha sighed and nodded at Tanya.

"We might as well. We might find someone clean or tolerable while we're here. Split up and we'll meet back here after we've searched the whole village. If we can't find anyone, we'll leave everyone be and keep looking."

They all did as Sasha said and split up into the village to look for clean blood. But while they were looking, other vampires caught a good scent and a few others were beginning to flock towards the village. Sasha and the others tried to stay discrete, but once the other vampires entered the village, there was screaming from villagers from being attacked by vampires, then thrown to the ground discarded because their blood was sick. One thing was certain; it would be a painful three days for a great many people in the village. Sasha was towards the far East end of the village when she started hearing a woman screaming something different than the other women.

"Do what you want but please leave my baby alone!" The voice was shrieking and panicked and it got Sasha's attention. Sasha made her way to the home where she heard the voice and when she arrived, it was a little house where a woman was having her neck bitten and her husband was on the ground also dead. This must have been where the clean scent was coming from. When she was in the doorway, the vampire threw the now dead woman on the ground and looked at Sasha and smiled kindly. It was a man with black hair and pale skin almost like the snow.

"Hello. I'm sorry, but I've drunk all the clean blood. The little boy doesn't smell too bad if you want to take a whack at him." Sasha rolled her eyes with a small smile.

"How kind of you to think of a stranger in need." He laughed at Sasha's sarcasm and walked out of the house.

"I try. But hey, I've been lonely for a while now. Maybe we could be more than simple strangers." Sasha shook her head.

"I'm flattered, but I can't leave my daughters for a fling."

"You have daughters?" Sasha nodded.

"They were changed with me when a vampire invaded our home. My eldest daughter was to be married, but something happened." Sasha didn't speak on the matter further and the stranger looked a little sad for her.

"That's a terrible shame. But at least you still have your family with you. Mine were taken when I was changed. I was sick you see, so the vampire discarded me and I watched him kill my wife and two sons."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I can see why you've been so lonely." He smiled a little again.

"I don't suppose you would be willing to take me up on my offer now." Sasha grinned and shrugged.

"Perhaps if I see you again sometime soon, I'll keep you company. I'm Sasha by the way."

"I'm Vasilii. I look forward to seeing you again Sasha."

"Likewise." Then Vasilii took Sasha's hand in his and gave in a kind kiss before running off into the village to take another sniff around to find more clean blood. Sasha stayed and looked at the little boy that was cowering in the corner staring at his mother.

The boy looked so sickly. His skin was almost as pale as Sasha's with the sickening tint of yellow to it and his eyes were bloodshot. His feet and hands were calloused to near rock hand consistency from what she could tell and he was crying while staring at his parents. His blood smelled horrible. There was the smell of good blood, but it was muddied by the smell of the disease he had. Sasha walked to the little boy who looked at her and trembled and cried more at the site of her red eyes.

"My name is Sasha. What is yours?" The little boy kept crying and wouldn't answer her. Sasha kept looking at the poor boy and her heart began to hurt for him. "I'm so sorry about your mother and father. If you had another family member, I doubt they're still alive." Hearing that made the boy cry even harder and much louder and it made Sasha feel worse.

"Mommy…..daddy…." That's all Sasha could get the little boy to say. It pained her heart to see this small child all alone with no one left to be there for him. And he was so young and sick. He wouldn't live long with parents let alone without them. Then Sasha had an idea. A very bad and illegal idea.

"Hey. What if I took care of you? I'll take care of you and I'll make sure you're happy. I'll make up for everything that happened here. I promise." The little boy didn't answer. He only kept crying. Instead of waiting for the little boy's answer, she took a hold of him and started running out of the village as fast as she could.

Most of the villagers had been killed or were changing by then, so most of the vampires were gone from the village by now. Tanya, who had been in the general area her mother had been, saw Sasha run away into the woods looking like she was holding something. But she couldn't tell what it was. Tanya didn't bother following her mother. She could see her face and she looked as if she wanted to be alone. Tanya ran around the village looking for Katrina and Irina and they all met each other at the entrance of the large village. Katrina looked and smelled around and looked at Tanya.

"Did you see mother?" Tanya nodded.

"Yeah I did. She ran out of the village holding something."

"What was she holding?" Tanya shrugged.

"I don't know, I couldn't see. She was hiding it to her chest. She looked like she wanted to be alone." Irina looked a little nervous.

"What should we do? When will she come back?" Tanya patted Irina's shoulder to calm her a little.

"Don't worry, Irina. I'm sure mother will be back soon. We should just wait here for her so she can find us as soon as she's finished what she needed to do."

"But how long will that take?"

"I don't know, Irina. All we can do is be patient." Reluctantly, the sisters stayed close to Tanya and waited for Sasha to return as Tanya said to.

Sasha tried to get as far away from the village as she possibly could. She needed to make sure she could change the boy without anyone finding them, particularly another vampire. One could never tell which vampires were lax on the rules and which ones looked at the rules like sticklers with their tails between their legs constantly looking over their shoulders for the wrath of the Volturi. Tanya eventually found a cave that went deep into the ground and was a perfect place to hide the little boy while he changed. When Sasha was sure they were alone, she bit the still crying little boy's neck and stayed close to him while he screamed in pain and screamed for it to be over.

After three days of watching the little boy, something changed in him. He started to not look so scared and his expression had become slightly blank. His skin was no longer an unhealthy looking pale yellow, but was now simply pale. All blemishes and scars left his little face and his hair grew thicker and a deeper brown then before. His face was a little round, but he was a beautiful little boy and had a cute little button nose and sweet little almond shaped eyes and full little lips. And when he opened his eyes, the scarlet red was piercing and seemed to add some fierceness to his cute face. When he looked at Sasha, he seemed confused.

"Who are you?" Sasha smiled at the boy and patted his head.

"My name is Sasha. I saved you from death by disease when your parents were killed. Do you remember?" The little boy shook his head.

"I don't remember. I can't remember anything but now." Sasha sighed.

"Do you remember your name?" He shook his head.

"No." Sasha looked at the boy a little more and tried to think of a name for the little boy. Then she remembered the vampire that had killed his family but spared him. Perhaps his actions were truly cruel, but at the moment, Sasha thought of it as kind that he spared this innocent child from death. So it only seemed appropriate to give that vampire his due respect.

"How about I name you Vasilii? It's a strong name and beautiful too." The little boy smiled and it was the sweetest smile Sasha had ever seen.

"Vasilii is my name now." Sasha giggled and nodded her head. "And you're Sasha." Sasha nodded.

"Yes. But you can call me mommy."

"Okay mommy." Then Vasilii moved closer to Sasha and gave her a tight hug. Sasha couldn't take her eyes off the boy. He was such a beautiful child and had a smile like an angel. He didn't deserve to be killed so young. Sasha had no regrets of changing him. Her only sorrow was that she would have to keep him hidden. "My throat hurts, mommy."

"I know, sweetie. You're thirsty for blood. I'll go get you someone to drink alright. You stay right here and don't move from this spot. Can you do that for me, Vasilii?" Vasilii nodded enthusiastically.

"I sure can. I'll stay right here." Sasha giggled when Vasilii stood up like a proper soldier would and stood very still with a big smile on his face.

"Good boy, Vasilii. You wait here and I'll be back soon with something for you." Vasilii nodded his head and stayed right where Sasha told him to.

Sasha went out to look for people for Vasilii and managed to find a village near the cave where she'd taken him. Meanwhile, Tanya, Irina, and Katrina had long since lost their patience and were now fruitlessly looking for Sasha. They met up again after four hours of looking and Katrina looked about ready to burst into an electrical charge. It had happened once before when she was mad and she'd been trying to gain a good control of her gift ever since.

"This is ridiculous. Where the hell is she? We've been looking for days now." Irina looked nervous.

"Do you think what she was holding was a clean human? Maybe while she was running off, she got into a fight with another vampire….and lost. What if that vampire set her on fire? What if momma's dead?" Tanya shook her head.

"No, it wasn't a clean human. Vampires would've flocked around her long before she could reach the village lines if that were the case. And I didn't smell clean blood. Only sickly." Katrina rolled her eyes.

"Then where is she? Why did she even leave?"

"I don't know, Katrina. Maybe she just wanted to be alone. Something could've upset her and she wanted some time alone."

"Like what? What would upset her about hunting?"

"Maybe….I don't know, Katrina. Let's just keep looking for her instead of sitting around arguing okay." Agreeing on that much, they split up again and kept looking for Sasha.

After an hour, Sasha managed to find one human that was clean enough. He had a cold, but it was better than a plague that was going around. When she got back to the cave, Vasilii was standing in the same position she left him in and jumped and bit the man as soon as he smelled the blood and was finished with him before Tanya could bring him to the back of the cave. When he was done, he looked at Sasha with another big grin.

"More, more. Please, more." Sasha smiled.

"Vasilii, those were the only clean people I was able to find. I know you're still thirsty, but try to be patient." Vasilii lost his smile and started pouting.

"But I want more." Sasha sighed.

"I know, Vasilii. But you need to be patient okay. I promise, the first clean human I find, I'll give it to you." Vasilii grinned wide again and cheered.

"Yay! Thank you mommy!" Sasha smiled, but also patted on Vasilii's head asking him to keep his voice down. Vasilii became quiet as Sasha asked him to and then Sasha took a moment to listen and see if anyone had heard them.

"Thank you, Vasilii. Now, mommy's going to try and look for food again. But promise me that you'll continue to stay in this spot okay. I don't want anything to happen to do." Vasilii grinned and nodded. Then went back into his cute little soldier stance that he'd taken before while Sasha left the cave to keep looking.

While she was looking, Tanya and her sisters were getting closer to where she was hunting and could smell her a little better than before. Kate sighed in relief and began running faster for the scent, as did the other two sisters.

"Finally we find her. I'm planning on having a stern talk with her about this once we find her." Tanya couldn't help giggling.

"You're not having a stern anything with mother. She'll smack the stern right out of you. You know that." Kate laughed a little.

"She's not really in a position to be mad at me. She's the one who wondered off suddenly without a word. For all we know, she could be dead." Tanya rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"She's not dead, Katrina. She's just missing."

"You make it sound like one's better than the other."

"Missing is better than dead."

"Sometimes." Irina interrupted Kate.

"We don't have the time to quarrel over word play. Let's just find mother so we can at least know she's alright." Neither saying anything more, they continued to follow their mother's scent until they finally found Sasha running towards a village that was in the area. Sasha caught her daughter's scents and stopped while they were running to her. Irina ran to hug her while Kate and Tanya stood close by.

"Mother. Why did you run off like that? We were worried about you." Sasha smiled at Tanya and shrugged.

"I got a human that I didn't want to share. That's all." Kate asked her question.

"Then why were you gone so long. We waited for you at the other village for days. We were beginning to think you'd abandoned us or something." Sasha laughed and shook her head.

"Of course not. I was looking for the three of you actually. I assumed you had left the village already and I was looking for the three of you in this area. I thought you would follow me when you were done." Tanya looked confused.

"But you always tell us to stay put whenever we lose you and you'll just find us."

"That's when you were children. You're all hardly children now."

"But why would you look for us here? You didn't think to at least check at the village?" Sasha sighed.

"Honey, I don't need to explain myself to you. I'm looking for some clean blood right now, so help me with that. And I'll want to eat alone for a while, so just wait at the village and I promise this time I'll come and look for you there. Okay?"

All three nodded their heads, but they looked confused. Sasha was acting strangely and they weren't sure what to say or do about it. Instead, they followed her into the village and they all looked around for some clean blood. As luck would have it, there weren't any other vampires in the area, so they were able to have all they wanted of what was available. Sasha snatched two humans that were the cleaner of all the villagers and was off in an instant, leaving Tanya and the others alone to hunt some more. Though they were all a little suspicious as to what their mother was doing, they stayed quiet about it and waited at the village for her. When Sasha arrived back at the cave where Vasilii was waiting patiently, she tossed the screaming humans in front of him and he had his fill of their blood within minutes. When he was done, he looked at Sasha with a big smile.

"My throat doesn't hurt as much anymore. But I'm still thirsty." Sasha smiled apologetically.

"I'm afraid that aspect never goes away my love. It's part of being a vampire honey." Vasilii pouted.

"That's no fun."

"I know, sweetie."

"So where are we going next? This cave is really boring." With a heavy heart, Sasha gave Vasilii the best answer she could.

"Well, Vasilii, I can't let you out of this cave. Vampires aren't really allowed to change children and if anyone saw you, then they would tell the Volturi and they would kill us both."

"Who are the Volturi? Why would they kill us, mommy? What did we do wrong?"

"The Volturi are the royal family of our kind. And what you are is called an immortal child, and the Volturi have made it clear that those types of vampires are to not exist because they're dangerous. I can't risk anyone seeing you. I couldn't bare it if anyone hurt you." Vasilii's face turned sad and he hugged Sasha seemingly like he was about to cry.

"But I didn't do anything, did I mommy? I didn't do anything bad, right?" Sasha was quiet a moment and she felt the ache from Vasilii's nonexistent tears. She was beginning to think that changing Vasilii really wasn't a good idea. Maybe she could've just nursed him back to health and let him go when he was old enough to take care of himself. She'd raised children to adults before. But thinking about what she should've done wouldn't change anything and she decided to deal with what she had done.

"No you didn't, Vasilii. You're a good little boy and mommy won't let anyone say otherwise." Vasilii finally smiled again and hugged Sasha tighter.

"I love you mommy."

"I love you too, Vasilii."

In truth, the concept that Sasha was telling Vasilii was something that was out of his control or understanding. All he understood was that if someone saw him, he would be in trouble and that alone was enough to persuade Vasilii to never leave the cave. Meanwhile, Tanya and her sisters were still at the village waiting after two hours had passed. They'd drank all the blood they possibly could and the past few overcast days have allowed them to stand at the front without looking suspicious. But after three hours, Kate finally lost her patience yet again.

"She's taking forever. Again." Tanya sighed.

"Katrina, just calm down."

"I can't believe that you don't think this is strange. This is the second time and I can't think of any reason that she should be taking this long just to eat alone. That was the excuse she gave us right? If all she did was go eat, then why is she taking so long?"

"Katrina, I don't know. But she said she would come back, so we're going to wait her for her and won't say a word of complaint when she gets back. Is that clear to both of you?" Irina spoke next.

"Tanya, you have to admit Katrina has a point. It's been hours and there's no reason for something like feeding to take so long. Don't you think it's a little suspicious?" Tanya rolled her eyes.

"Sure, it's strange, but what would mother possibly be doing that would be so horrible that we need to worry?" Irina shrugged.

"I don't know. I'm just saying that maybe we should stay with mother from now on. Next time she runs off, we'll follow her." Tanya shook her head.

"Mother would be furious if we did that and you know it. You should all know better than to disobey mother."

"But Tanya, what other option do we have? Right now it's been a few hours, but what if she doesn't come back for days again like she did last time? We can't keep doing this. You don't think she wants us to go off on our own or something do you?" Kate shrugged at Irina's final thought.

"Well, we are well into adulthood, human wise anyway. If we were still human, we'd all be married by now and mother would live with Tanya and the rest of us would live on our own with our husbands and their families."

"But we'd still be close to each other. And mother always said she wanted to keep us close to her always. Why would she want us to leave her side?"

"In that case, Irina, I think you just answered your own question."

"But Katrina, regardless, we don't know where she is and that's distressing me." Kate laughed a little under her breath.

"I'll say. If you were human, your hair would be white by now." Irina frowned at Kate.

"Don't make fun of me sister, this isn't funny." Tanya interrupted them both.

"Would it make all of you feel better if we went and looked for her?" Irina and Kate nodded. "How about this, I'll go look for her. You two stay here and wait for her. If she comes back, follow my scent and get me. Can we all do that?"

"Yes, Tanya, now go look for mother."

Tanya looked at her sisters a moment before she ran off in the direction she remembered mother running to. She wasn't running for very long before she found a cave. She could smell her mother and another presence there. Then her mother was out of the cave and right in front of Tanya in an instant. Once she was in front of her, she turned Tanya in the other direction and pulled her with in a fast passed walk in the other direction. Confused, Tanya started asking Sasha the questions she had.

"Who were you with in that cave?"

"No one, dear. Let's just look for your sisters and we'll wonder around a little more."

"Mother, why didn't you just tell us you were seeing someone?" Sasha gave Tanya a weird look.

"What are you talking about? I'm not seeing anyone."

"Then who' scent was that with you in the cave?" Sasha stiffened a moment and Tanya noticed it. "Mother, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm not seeing anyone per se, Tanya. I'm….having an affair."

"Okay, but why didn't you just tell us? It would've been nice to know why it was taking you so long to get back to us."

"I know, Tanya, and that's my fault. But I promise, it's nothing serious."

"It's not serious, but you've already spent three days and three hours with this man?"

"Tanya, what I do in my free time is nothing you need to worry about, alright. I've met a man, he's a great lover, and that's all you need to know."

"Well, what's his name?" Sasha was about to say Vasilii, seeing as that man had an interest in her anyway, but Tanya didn't know that person. Sasha didn't even really know him. So she chose a name out of the air, which just happened to be their father's name.

"Nicolai." Tanya was surprised.

"Same name as father. Does he look anything like father? I always thought you would never want to fall in love again after father died."

"I never said we were in love, honey. It's a mutual sexual affair, nothing more." Tanya was extremely surprised by the way her mother was acting. Sasha had always said no man would ever compare to her late husband and she had no plans of trying to find a man that could, and yet here she was having an affair? That didn't make any sense.

"Why the sudden change of heart with regards to lovers, mother?"

"Tanya, please, I just want to find your sisters. And keep this nonsense between you and me, alright? You sisters don't need to know about Nicolai. He's a good lover, and that's his only value, so let's not put more importance on him than what's needed."

"If you say so, mother."

Tanya was extremely confused at that moment. If this Nicolai person was good enough for mother to consider starting any type of romantic relationship with him, then he would certainly be important enough to tell her and her sisters about. Sasha wasn't the type of woman that would spread her legs for a good fuck. That just wasn't her. Katrina maybe, but not Sasha. And even Katrina picked lovers really sparingly. In the time they'd been vampires, she'd slept with three men. Three. And both of them no more than two times. She used her sexuality on her victims more often than not. And with the lack of clean blood available, that habit was another thing that was rare and far between. But Sasha taking a lover wasn't right. Tanya kept thinking about the improbability of her mother having a lover until they found Katrina and Irina again. When they saw each other, Katrina stood, fuming.

"Again, mother? Where have you been?" Sasha gave Katrina a stern look.

"Don't talk to me like I'm a child, young lady. I'm here now, so let's get moving." Katrina was taken back a moment by Sasha's tone. Tanya and Irina were just as baffled. They'd all seen their mother mad, but she never reacted this violently to anything. Irina timidly spoke up.

"Mother, is something wrong?" Sasha realized her tone and felt horrible about it and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, girls. I'm just on edge right now. I'm sorry for snapping at you Katrina." That made Tanya even more confused. The point of having a lover was to unwind. So it would make more sense for her to be in a good mood. Why was she so tense? "Why don't we get moving? There must be clean blood close by."

Everyone was quiet again as they walked away from the village to look for more clean blood. At a time in history like this, there was little more that a vampire could do to pass the time. The fact that they'd found two villages with clean blood in such a short time was a rare occurrence. Sasha kept everyone close to the cave where Vasilii was, though. She wouldn't allow them to go very far and that struck them all as odd as well. But Tanya kept her mouth shut and never questioned Sasha again when she ran off to be with her lover, or so she said that's what was happening. Vasilii was constantly bored and Sasha took a few days to look for a new cave for Vasilii to hide in. When she found one, she ran back to him and brought him to the new place, keeping Vasilii hidden under her jacket and no one saw him. Meanwhile, Tanya and the others waited for hours for their mother to return.

This went on for three years. Sasha would wonder off to Vasilii and Tanya assumed it was to be with a lover and Katrina and Irina became so used to it that they never questioned it again. Though Katrina would still complain about it from time to time. She was able to wonder off herself several times and look for fun of her own and be back two days later and Sasha still wouldn't have come back. And after three years, Vasilii didn't change. He didn't grow or learn new things and ways of thinking. He stayed exactly the same. He'd even thrown a tantrum on a village one time because he was so thirsty and wanted blood. By some miracle, Sasha managed to keep him at bay and bring him back into hiding without any vampires seeing him. But they certainly heard him. Particularly, a vampire by the name of Murdock and his mate, Svetlana.

"What was that noise?" Svetlana looked in the direction the noise had come from with her hands still brushing through his hair.

"It sounded like a screaming child." Murdock stood up on the branch he and his mate had been resting on and looked in the distance towards the village. He saw Sasha running towards a cave a few miles away and she looked like she was carrying something. "Can you see what it was?"

"I think so. There's a woman, a vampire obviously, running away from the village. I can't see what she's holding, though. She's covering it with her cloths."

"Should we see what it is?"

"I'll go look. You stay here and wait for me."

"No, I'll come with you."

"Svetlana, I said stay here. It's probably nothing anyway, okay. You keep watch from here just in case, alright?" Reluctantly, Svetlana nodded her head and stayed at the tree while Murdock ran off in the direction Sasha was running. Svetlana watched intently while Murdock caught up to Sasha. Sasha saw him and ran into the cave and dropped off Vasilii. Svetlana looked into the cave and saw Vasilii and his bright red eyes and was stunned. Murdock didn't see Vasilii right away. All he saw was Sasha walk out of the cave facing him with her arms suddenly free.

"What do you want?" Sasha was extremely cautious and Murdock became cautious from her tone.

"I heard a strange noise and I came to check it out. You were the one running from the destruction holding something. I guessed you knew what had happened." Sasha shook her head.

"I'm afraid I don't."

"You just came from that village and you don't know what happened?"

"No, I don't. Now please leave me be." Murdock and Sasha looked at each other for a while. Then Murdock crossed his arms suspiciously.

"What were you carrying here? You seemed intent on not letting me see it."

"It's nothing. Please leave now." Murdock stood there a moment looking at Sasha. He finally decided to leave, but then he saw Vasilii looking out of the cave. He saw the baby face and bright red eyes, then looked right at Sasha stunned.

"That child." Knowing he'd seen Vasilii, Sasha ran to Murdock and tried grabbing his head to rip it from his shoulders. But Murdock was faster and he dodged. Svetlana saw them begin fighting and started running to help him.

Svetlana finally arrived to help and she grabbed a hold of Sasha to keep her still so Murdock could run. Once Murdock was free, he screamed for Svetlana to run. Before running, she tore Sasha's head from her shoulders so she and Murdock could run without being pursued. Vasilii screamed and ran to Sasha to help her. Murdock and Svetlana got a good look the boy before they began running. In a tantrum, Vasilii followed them while Sasha healed herself and attacked Murdock. When he had a hold of him, he tore Murdock limb from limb. Svetlana ran to her mate and grabbed Vasilii to throw him off Murdock. Once Vasilii was off him, she started putting Murdock back together. Once he had his composure back, Vasilii was about to attack again. Murdock grabbed a hold of him and threw him against a tree, breaking it down. Sasha, who was now healed herself, ran to the fight and grabbed Vasilii. Murdock and Svetlana ran off immediately and got away this time. Sasha ran them both back to the cave and started panicking.

"They saw you. Vasilii, why didn't you stay in the cave like I said to? I told you to stay in the cave."

"I wanted to help." Vasilii was giving Sasha a sad face.

"Vasilii, I could've just told him to leave. He was about to until he saw you." Sasha's voice started breaking from dry tears. Vasilii began having the same dry tears and they hugged each other tightly comforting one another.

Sasha knew she had to move Vasilii to another place so he could hide. That kept her away from Tanya and the others for a record eight days. But again, when Sasha came back, they said nothing about it, especially when their mother looked especially upset when she came back. Tanya wondered if maybe her lover had broken off the relationship and now Sasha would be home more. But Tanya didn't say anything by her mother's request. When Murdock and Svetlana had gotten far enough away and it seemed like they weren't being followed, Svetlana grabbed a tight hold of Murdock and started kissing him.

"Don't you ever run off on your own again! I almost lost you! You're so stupid!" Murdock held Svetlana tightly and let her get out all her worries and frustration before they kissed lovingly.

"I'm sorry, Svetlana. Thank you for helping me. I don't think I would've gotten away otherwise."

"Don't say that. I don't want to hear it."

"Calm down, my love. I'm alright. Everything's alright now." Murdock was quiet a moment trying to think. He knew what he'd seen. "That child."

"It was an immortal child, Murdock. I saw that boy's eyes. He was far too young."

"I suspect the boy was dying and the woman felt pity for him and thought it kinder to change him."

"What are we going to do? Should we leave it alone?" Murdock shook his head.

"No. That child is an illegal creature. And when the Volturi find out, we might get in trouble for keeping quiet about it. It's safer to tell then to keep silent and have it bite us in the ass." Svetlana clutched onto Murdock's jacket in rage.

"They hurt you, Murdock. Almost killed you. I can't let that go."

"If we tell the Volturi, Svetlana, we tell them because it's the right thing to do. Not because you're angry."

"Should we take some time to think about it then?" Murdock shook his head.

"No. We need to do this now. We'll go South until we reach the Red sea. Then we'll follow the cost into Italy from there."

"Will we be able to find Volterra that way?"

"If nothing else, we can look at a map." Murdock kissed Svetlana and they walked together hand in hand to the South. Murdock began to feel heaviness in his heart and his mind as they made their way to Italy. At first, Svetlana was all too happy tell the Volturi, but as they got closer and closer to Italy, she began to feel the same as Murdock. It seemed wrong to tell on this woman. When they were outside the small village of Volterra late one night, they looked at each other with sad faces.

"Are we sure we want to do this?" Murdock took a moment to think. He wasn't sure anymore. It felt like telling the Volturi about this child would make them evil.

"I don't know." Svetlana and Murdock were quiet.

"Do you think anyone in the Volturi speaks Russian?"

"I doubt it."

"So how will we tell them?" Murdock looked at Svetlana oddly.

"What do you mean?" Svetlana smiled for the first time in days.

"Well, if they don't speak Russian, then we have no way to tell them. We can't be held accountable and we can't be blamed for not telling them." Murdock chuckled and kissed Svetlana.

"What an evil genius you are my love." Murdock and Svetlana shared another kiss before they smelled another vampire near them. When they looked up, they saw a woman with mahogany hair.

"Not quite so genius I'm afraid." They both looked at the vampire stunned that she could understand them. Murdock faced her cautiously with Svetlana thing behind Murdock's body.

"You can understand me?" The vampire nodded.

"My native tongue is closer to yours than any of the other coven members, so Aro thought it would be appropriate for me to learn the Slavic languages. For future purposes. As you can see, that came in handy."

"You're a member of the Volturi?" The vampire nodded.

"Yes. I'm Heidi. One of Aro's first members I'll have you know. Now what were you considering keeping from the Volturi? You do know hiding things makes you just as responsible as the wrongdoers, am I right?" Murdock tightened his hold on Svetlana's hand, hoping to make her feel better, before answering.

"Yes, we're aware."

"So that being the case, tell me why I should allow you two to live." Murdock was silent again. He felt guilty about this. "If you have no answer for me, then I'm afraid I'll have to kill you both."

"Wait!" Heidi looked at Svetlana who had screamed to stop her. "We're here to report the creation of an Immortal Child." Murdock closed his eyes a moment while Heidi looked a little surprised.

"An Immortal Child? Are you certain?"

"Yes. We've both seen the boy with our own eyes. And the woman that created him. We came here to tell the Volturi." Heidi looked at them both a moment.

"I see. This is a pretty serious offense."

"Don't tell Aro about that, please." Heidi shook her head.

"I'm afraid that part is impossible. I take it you don't know Aro's power? He's a mind reader. He hears all your thoughts and all the thoughts you've ever had just by touching you. Something like considering to keep this a secret is something that he would hear. And he needs to read your thoughts so we can find this immortal child and his creator."

"We'll show you where they are." Heidi looked at them a moment thinking. The Volturi had encountered several cases like this since Heidi had joined the coven. And each time, Aro got the identity of the assailants and sent the informers off on their way.

"That won't be necessary. Now if you'll please come with me, I'll take you to our castle and introduce you to Aro. If you do that, I'll make sure you both leave this village alive. Can we agree on that?" Svetlana nodded, thinking of hers and her mate's lives.

"Yes. Just please let us go."

"Then come with me."

Heidi began running to the castle in the distance and Murdock and Svetlana followed her. Once at the door, Heidi banged the large doors with the large doorknobs. Not long after, another female vampire opened the door. This one was distinctly Italian and a short little thing. Heidi addressed her as Renata and they all walked up the large staircase to the main room where Aro and the others were. When Aro saw Murdock and Svetlana, he stood from his thrown and walked to them. Caius and Marcus watched with their mates at their sides and Aro's mate sat in his thrown waiting and watching.

"Ah, Heidi, Renata. Who are these two?" Murdock stood at the front with Svetlana still close behind him.

"I am Murdock, sir. This is my mate, Svetlana. We're here because…" Aro held up his hand to silence him.

"I'll listen a different way." Aro then walked the rest of the way to Murdock and grabbed a hold of his hand to listen. He did the same to Svetlana and smiled when he was done. "I see. This is quite serious. As is the plan of not telling my coven." Then Aro looked at Heidi. "You promised them they'd go free without consulting me?"

"Forgive me, Aro. I had hoped to put their fears to rest." Caius stood up.

"It's not your place to do so, Heidi. Next time, you wait to make promises until you know you can keep them." Heidi bowed her head.

"My apologies sir." Murdock and Svetlana both began to get nervous and kept their guard up. Aro then continued.

"You should both know better than that." Then Aro looked towards his guards. "Felix." Felix was next to Murdock in an instant and about to rip him apart until Svetlana screamed and Aro held up his hand at Felix telling him to stop.

"Please, don't! We'll show you where they are! We'll do anything you need us to! Please don't hurt him!" Aro looked at Svetlana a moment and smiled.

"Such a devoted mate you are, Svetlana. I'm tempted to let you both go." Caius shook his head.

"Don't do that, Aro. If you let them go, who's to say they will go through with keeping other things from us? They're defiant and that's punishable by death." Marcus spoke up next.

"Aro, don't listen to him. They're here and they told us. They did the right thing in the end." Aro again held up his hand to silence the masses. When he had a moment to consider, he smiled and spoke reassuringly.

"Very well. I shall allow you both to live. But know that this generosity won't happen again. Now you say you know where this immortal child and his creator are. I suggest you show Felix, Santiago, and Heidi the way. I'll come with. But I want the rest of you to stay here."

Felix finally released Murdock and followed him and Svetlana once he had back his composure. It took a few days to reach Russia and by then, Sasha had been back with her daughters and worrying about Vasilii for almost a month. She was hoping that maybe those two hadn't told the Volturi about Vasilii. Maybe they would both get out of this okay. But just in case, she became even more secretive with her daughters. She hardly said a word to them at all through that month.

"Mother." Sasha looked at Irina who was showing her usual concern. "You seem miles away. What happened?"

"I've told you, Irina, it's nothing important."

"But mother, you haven't fed in weeks. You keep taking humans away, but your eyes stay black. What's going on?"

"Nothing!" Irina jumped back and Katrina and Tanya looked at their mother stunned by her outburst. Once she took a deep breath and calmed down, she spoke again. "There's nothing you girls need to worry about. I know you're just worried about me, but please don't be."

Everyone stayed quiet again and followed Sasha as she kept going forward. Now she looked almost stone like when she walked. But they all kept quiet. But as they were walking, Sasha smelled Vasilii and a large group of other scents. Two of which she recognized and a furry and sadness and fear filled her like no other. She stood completely still. They all smelled the group, but Sasha was the only one stunned by it. Katrina looked at Sasha confused.

"What's wrong now?"

"They have Vasilii. Oh God, Vasilii."

"Who's Vasilii?" Then there was a loud scream from a little boy calling for his mommy. Felix and the rest of the Volturi guards that had come with Murdock and Svetlana came out of the trees and became visible to Sasha and her coven. Felix was holding Vasilii in a vice grip and Vasilii was screaming mommy and to be let go. Sasha went even colder when she saw Aro standing at the front of that group.

"So you're the creator of this immortal child. Please, don't try to deny it. This boy's thoughts were clear and honest. You won't get away with this, Sasha." Katrina, Tanya, and Irina looked at Aro stunned, then looked at their mother. Katrina shook Sasha a little.

"Mother, what is he talking about? What's going on?" Aro looked a little surprised.

"You mean you know nothing of this? You've never seen this little boy?" Katrina shook her head.

"No. I've never seen him before. There must be a mistake." Aro shook his head.

"There is no mistake I fear." Then Aro walked to the group and grabbed a hold of Katrina, Irina, and Tanya all at once to read their thoughts. When he found nothing suspicious, he smiled. "So you really don't know anything about this. No wonder you're both so surprised. But as I said, there is no mistake. You're mother has committed a blatant offense and we can't let her go."

"Mommy! Mommy, help me, please!" Sasha looked at Vasilii and saw the terror in his eyes. Her motherly instinct took over and she ran to Vasilii. She grabbed Vasilii and Felix allowed it, but grabbed Sasha's arm when she tried to run.

"Now, Felix, if you would start please, I'll get some fire." Katrina screamed.

"Please no! Give her another chance! There must be some misunderstanding!" Tanya and Irina held Katrina back and Sasha yelled at Katrina to stop.

"Don't Katrina! I kept this from all of you! You're all innocent! Don't waste that!" Aro looked at the five of them. Sasha was the only one who seemed to understand. Vasilii was far too young to understand and her daughters were still in shock.

"Is there anything else you would like to say, Sasha? To either your daughter or Murdock and Svetlana?" Sasha looked at Murdock and Svetlana, who both looked away in guilt. Sasha didn't even give them dirty looks. They had no other option but to tell, and she knew that. So instead of wasting her breath on them, she turned her head to her daughters and smiled.

"I'm sorry, Tanya, Katrina, Irina. I'm sorry to do this to you. But don't let this hurt you. Move on without me. I know you can. I love you all. I always will." Then Sasha looked at Vasilii, who was still trembling. "And I'm sorry, Vasilii. I wanted to help you, but it looks like I couldn't." Vasilii clutched Sasha even tighter then.

"I love you mommy." Sasha smiled and hugged Vasilii tighter with her free arm, keeping him as close to her and in her arms as she could.

"I love you too, Vasilii." There was a collective silence among the group while Felix waited for Aro's orders. Once Sasha had said her piece, Aro nodded his head at Felix, who then tore both Sasha and Vasilii to pieces and Santiago threw fire on them both while Sasha's daughters all began screaming for her. They didn't stop until the pyre of fire turned purple and their bodies began burning.

"Well, that's taken care of. You three knew nothing of this, so I'll let you go free. Remember this day and never make the same mistake your mother did."

Aro then gestured to his guards to come with him and they all left with the pyre of purple still burning. Murdock and Svetlana stood there where the sisters sat together and cried without any tears falling. Both felt horrible about what had just happened. They were both left fighting with themselves over what the Volturi had done and how they had no problem leaving three girls without their mother. Murdock was about to walk to them and beg for their forgiveness, but Svetlana stopped his and spoke in his ear in just a whisper.

"They don't want our pity my love. They want time to mourn their mother."

"I can't believe we did this. Forty years I've been this way and this is the first time I've ever felt more like a monster."

"I know, my love." They both held onto each other, watching the burning bodies of the woman and boy they'd only just now learned the names of. While they were watching the fire, Katrina stood from beside Tanya and Irina and looked right at Murdock and Svetlana.

"How could you do this? Have you no heart?" Murdock and Svetlana stood very still, not sure how she would act next. But they also knew whatever her reaction, they deserved it for what they'd done. "You murdered my mother! You didn't tear them apart, but your hands are stained just as Felix and Santiago! This is all your faults!" Tanya stood next to her sister.

"Katrina, calm down." Not having it, Katrina shocked Tanya, sending her onto her back for a second while Katrina went right up to the couple that had indirectly killed her mother.

"This is all your fault! Have you no heart, you heathens!" Tanya ran to Katrina and tried to restrain her so she wouldn't attack Murdock and Svetlana. Tanya looked at them and asked them to just leave. Murdock and Svetlana looked at them, then the pyre, then finally ran off as Tanya asked them to do, leaving the sisters alone to grieve for their mother.

When Tanya had a hold of Katrina, she pulled her back to the ground and Irina walked over to her sisters and sat with them in the snow. They all three watched the fire burn until there was eventually nothing left but ashes that was blown away by gusts of winter wind. When the fire and ashes were all completely gone is when the sisters finally walked away from the site and began wondering around aimlessly, not sure what to do. Tanya was the one that finally took the initiative to run the coven and keep everyone intact. Katrina never forgave Murdock and his mate or Vasilii for everything that happened. And it was more years still before she wasn't angry anymore. Though all three were consumed with hatred towards the Volturi for everything that happened, it was from then on that the three sisters knew to never cross the Volturi and never planned to do so ever again.


	17. Demetri: Aftermath of the Mongols

**Aftermath of the Mongols**

(*Note: The Mongol Invasion was a point in History where Russia was invaded. The war itself lasted from 1237(ish) and ended 1240. Only a province called Novgorod was spared when they agreed to lay their loyalty in the hands of the Mongols. The rest of the country was torn apart with the furry of the Mongols, who pillaged their villages, raped their women, and took what belonged to the Russian people. At the end of the war, aside from the Novgorod territory, Russia never fully recovered from the invasion until much later and Novgorod continued to prosper. Demetri joined the military effort when he was sixteen, leaving his mother and siblings in what is now Omsk, Russia to fight. Like all, he fought with his life, but unlike most, he was lucky and managed to stay alive and not sustain any debilitating injuries. But after the loss of the Russians, the soldiers where either killed off or left to die. Demetri, still shell shocked from the war and the loss of his comrades, wanders with a heavy heart and filled with shame.*)

**Moscow, 1240 A.D.**

The Mongols had won. All of Russia, exempting the Novgorod Territory had been completely taken over and sacked. I was one of the few surviving soldiers from the war and held my head down in shame from the loss of my country to Mongols. I didn't want to return home. I knew that waiting for me would only be the scorched remains of my family home, my mother and sister and little brother probably dead. My home was further north from Moscow and all the other soldiers were starting their journey home. Instead, I kept moving north. I knew what would greet me if I went home and I didn't want to face it. I would go wherever I could find that the Mongols hadn't desecrated. I couldn't be sure if I would find it, but I wouldn't live in ruin. I was still very young. I didn't want it to end yet.

It took months for me to finally find that place, and how I survived it all I will never know. Rabbit meat and deer were what I had to survive on for all that time and I was never so happy to see houses and a large castle in the distance. When I walked up to the gates where two soldiers stood, they pulled out their swords and demanded I speak my name. I fell to my knees happy to see civilization at last.

"I'm Demetri. I was a soldier of mother Russia defeated by the Mongols. My home was taken and I need to find a new one." Both of the soldiers looked at each other quickly, then back at me.

"A soldier?" I nodded.

"Yes."

"You may be disappointed, soldier. Novgorod submitted to Mongol rule." I was quiet. It was the ultimate insult to injury. Not only was I defeated, but my only hope of survival was joining those I fought. But in my current state, I couldn't bring myself to care at all and I bowed my head.

"I've traveled long and I'm hungry and beaten. I have nowhere to go but here. Please say I'm welcome." One of the soldiers tapped my forehead with his sword making me look up at him.

"On your feet, soldier." I stood up as the soldier instructed. "You're in luck. Many have come to us requesting shelter. And our arms are welcome to you. But only on the condition of complete surrender to the Mongols and loyalty. You are a soldier, so you will remain one. But since we're finally in a time of peace, you will stay here and commit to a craft of your choice that will accept you. If you accept these terms, you will be a welcomed citizen. Do you accept?"

"I accept." I felt heavy, but what else could I have done? I was one man among few who survived. Fighting was futile. Both soldiers smiled and the one who offered the conditions offered me his hand and I took it in friendship.

"Welcome to Novgorod. What did you say your name was?"

"Demetri."

"I presume you don't have a surname." I was confused.

"A surname?"

"Yes. A surname. A craft to which you were previously employed?" I shook my head.

"My family were farmers."

"Ah. Then a new surname is in order. We shall call you what we've called all the other fallen soldiers. Zolneryev." Though I accepted, I had a bad feeling about the name. I wondered if this name, since given to all fallen soldiers, was a name by which to know who in the town would be mocked. But I ignored the concern. I was at least relieved that the name we were given was noble. "You may enter soldier. Near the castle, there's a government building that will explain what you need to do next."

The soldiers then opened the gates for me and let me walk into the town. All the people were covered head to toe with fur for the chilling cold. I knew that my furs would only last so much longer and the fact that my clothes were covered in blood caught attention momentarily from all the townspeople. But when they had their one glance, they went back to their business as usual. I was surprised by their lack of reaction. I assumed that this must have been something very common to them, which made me feel slightly better. Maybe I would meet men that I'd once thought were dead. I was also relieved to find that they all spoke my language. I was directed to the government building I'd been told about and walked in, greeted by a line of three men who I didn't recognize, but I knew had fought with me. I went to the end of the line and waited patiently until it was finally my turn to speak.

The representative I met was very clean and well presented. He wore an extravagant clothe that shined slightly in the light and showed he was wealthy. Clearly he worked for the ruler of this land and was well paid for his service, whatever that might be. He was an older gentleman with a white beard and white hair. His wrinkled face seemed routine and normal and the papers before him were stacked high. When he was done writing, he placed that paper aside and took a blank one before looking right at me. He looked me over and breathed out.

"Another soldier?" I nodded.

"Yes."

"You're name is?"

"Demetri."

"Very well. You're a fallen soldier seeking refuge and a new country. So you will be called Zolneryev just as the others are. Do you pledge allegiance to Novgorod and her allies with full cooperation and support?" I nodded.

"I do."

"And as a new soldier, do you swear to follow orders without question and support our emperor and his allies to the death when called?"

"I do."

"Good. Now it's your responsibility to find yourself a means of living other than the army. Since it's a time of peace, our Emperor would rather use those soldier wages for more useful things. When soldiers are needed, you will be paid for those efforts. But until then, you're on your own. And if you can't find a job within a fortnight of arriving, then you will be exiled, no exceptions. Where you work is unimportant. And you will be given two full moons to find or build a home for yourself after finding a job, either in this town our outside our walls. Either is fine. Can you read?" I shook my head.

"No." He sighed heavily.

"None of you can read. Well, since you can't read, that's your own curse. And you won't learn, at least not from the hands of our emperor or his tutors. Luckily for you, most forms of employment won't require literacy on your part. Make your mark on this paper." The man presented me with a paper that had scribbles that I couldn't read. At the bottom, there was an x symbol with a line next to it where my name would be written.

"What should I write?" The man rolled his eyes, then sighed.

"Want to learn how to spell your name?" I nodded. "Remember, this is a luxury no one gets. Be grateful that I'm in an exceptional mood today." The man grabbed another blank piece of paper and showed me, first, the alphabet the country went by_(the standard Russian Alphabet.)_ and how to pronounce each letter. Once that was done, he showed me how to spell my name. "You can keep this paper. Learning to read from here if up to you. Now that you know how to spell your name, make your mark."

The man handed me a feather pen and the paper he'd handed me before with the bottle of ink. I looked at the paper with the alphabet and my name and wrote what he'd shown me. It was sloppy compared to his, but I felt a little proud of myself and handed him back the paper with a small smile. He looked the paper over again, then looked happy and nodded his head at me.

"Congratulations, Demetri Zolneryev. You're now a legal citizen of Novgorod. Follow the rules presented to you and it will remain that way."

"Thank you." He smiled one last time, then shooed me.

"Now get out of my office and start looking for a job. I would recommend applying to work on the Emperor's little projects. We need as many men for that as possible."

"His projects?"

"Building more onto his castle, creating forts in the surrounding area, underground hangers, and so on. He's got many things he wants to build. Though if you can get a job somewhere else, I would recommend it. It's dangerous work." I nodded my head.

"I'll try." I then left the building and stepped back into the bitter cold outside. I looked around a moment trying to distinguish business and homes. As he'd suggested I do, I thought I'd look for a job elsewhere before going to construction.

That was the initial plan. But after visiting many businesses, I learned quickly that men like me weren't openly accepted. Most businesses said, 'we don't employ the Zolneryev', and forced me out. It was painfully clear that no one other than the construction workers would take me, so by the end of the day, I gave up hope on any other job and went to where I could sign up to be a construction worker. I hid the paper with the alphabet before going to the official site where I needed to go after I memorized how to spell my name. I signed up and they ordered me to be on site tomorrow at dawn. I agreed and went back into town. Then I realized that I had no place to stay.

I walked around for an hour looking for a place to stay. But the lodge in town that housed Zolneryev was full and I was turned away. And all the homes I went to wouldn't accept me. I was essentially an unwanted immigrant in my own country. When I couldn't find anywhere to stay, I picked a home at random and sat at the side of the house. This house was much larger than most of the others. It was brighter from what I could tell and it was obvious that a wealthier family owned this home. It seemed strange for a wealthy family to live near the poorer ones, but that wasn't important. I stayed close to the wood and did my best to keep warm. I tried to sleep, but it was difficult since the cold was so painful. My beard I'd grown since I'd joined the army was the only warmth I had for my face. I wasn't sure how long I was in the cold before I heard a door open near me. I looked up and saw a girl walk out in a heavy fur coat. I could only see her eyes. They were almond shaped, but I couldn't see the color of her eyes and her skin was pale. She walked to the pile of wood I was sitting next to and saw me.

"Who are you?" I took a moment to get shivering out of my system momentarily to answer her.

"Demetri."

"Are you a Zolneryev?" I was hesitant to answer. She assumed my silence was answer enough. "Why are you here?"

"I couldn't find a place to stay."

"There's a lodge for men like you. You should go there. They'll provide temporary home for you until you have to live on your own." I shook my head.

"They were full. They said they weren't taking in anymore." The girl was quiet a moment. Then the wind began to speed up and the snow was blinding me.

"If you want, you can stay with us for the night. But only for tonight. I think my father will understand." I was at my feet almost instantly.

"Thank you. This means a lot." She nodded.

"Since I'm taking you in, make yourself useful and carry in some wood for me. Our fire's starting to go down." I nodded.

"Of course." I grabbed two armfuls of wood and followed the girl inside. When I was in with the wood, she closed the door behind me and took of her fur coat. She had a heart shaped face and wavy brown hair and pale skin. And her eyes were brown. She was full figured and those features seemed accentuated by the heavy clothes she wore. She was a beautiful girl.

"Put that wood by the fire." I did as she said and her father was already looking at me. I assumed the man she was talking to was her father.

"Who is this?"

"He was sitting out in the cold. I didn't want him freezing to death, so I invited him in."

"You shouldn't have done that. We don't know this man?"

"I know father. Please forgive me." The man eventually shook his head and waved dismissively.

"Never mind. I'll let it slip this time." The man stood from his chair and looked at me a moment. Then he took out some paper. "Do you smoke?" I nodded. "Alright." The man then took out another slip of paper and sat back down and used the small table next to his chair to roll up a cigarette. When he was done, he handed me one and went to the fire and lit it. I walked to the fire and lit mine and felt shear relief when I breathed the smoke in. I hadn't had a cigarette in months.

"Thank you."

"Don't worry about it. You looked like you needed it. Would you like any Vodka?" I nodded.

"I would love some." The man smiled and looked at his daughter.

"Bring us my opened bottle, dear. And two glasses." His daughter nodded her head and went to another room. "Vodka will warm you right up. And it's my own home brewed Vodka."

"You brew your own?"

"Not just my own. I'm the merchant here." I realized who the man was and stiffened a little. He was one of the men whose business I'd gone to for a job. He also didn't take the Zolneryev.

"Oh. I actually went there today."

"Did you? I hope you're not a drunk." I shook my head.

"I wanted to get a job there. But the people who worked there turned me away." The man's face became blank a moment, then a little annoyed looking.

"So you're one of those rebels that come to this city."

"We aren't rebels. We fought for this country and we lost. Simple as that."

"I know what you are. You're a group of men who somehow survived the massacre of this country and come here for relief. I admit you're wise for turning yourself to the enemy. But also very cowardice." I looked at my feet.

"I know."

"I'm sure you know. You fight for your country by order of the emperor, only to be beaten down and reduced to a name. A hated name. I understand why you came here, but I must admit, I'm disappointed that you would give up so easily."

"What choice did I have?" There was silence between us. His daughter came back with two glasses and a large glass bottle. She gave us our glasses and her father took the bottle and poured some vodka. He poured me a glass, then put the bottle down on the table and took a big gulp. Then looked at me again.

"I suppose you're right." He was quiet again. He eventually filled his glace with more vodka and took a gulp again before asking questions. "I never caught your name."

"Demetri."

"Demetri Zolneryev. I'm Argo Vasilyev. And this is my daughter, Evelina Vasilyeva."

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Indeed." Argo looked at Evelina. "What did you offer him, Eve?"

"I offered to let him spend the night. But only the night, father. I promise." Vasilyev sighed a little, then looked back at me.

"Well, since you've been wondering around I imagine you're hungry. Evelina, make this man some dinner." I looked at Evelina and she smiled a little. I was sure she was a little annoyed, but she didn't show it. She remained polite and walked away to another room that I assumed was the kitchen. "We got some chickens today, so they're fresh. Have you ever had chicken before?" I shook my head.

"I haven't."

"You're in for something pleasant then. My wife taught our daughter well in the art of cooking."

"Where is your wife?"

"She passed away. She caught pneumonia and there was nothing the doctors could do for her. She died five years ago."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry. It's a part of life, I'm afraid. But pardon me, where are my manors? I shouldn't complain to you about something so personal. You're a guest. Since you'll be staying the night, please make yourself comfortable. And I think I have clothes you can take. Obviously, bloody fur isn't exactly work appropriate."

"I don't want to further inconvenience you." Vasilyev shook his head.

"Not at all. I won't let you say such nonsense. Now come upstairs. I'm sure I have a pair some clothes that would fit you well enough until you can buy your own."

"Thank you." Vasilyev smiled and turned to walk towards the stairs. I followed after him up the stairs and to the left where his room was. I stayed in the doorway while he walked to his armoire and opened it to reveal several clothes. Most looked too fancy for me. Eventually, he pulled out some work clothes and tossed them to me.

"You look about that size. Try them on and let me know how they fit. I'll ask Eve to clean your coat for you. Now try those on and let me know if they fit." I nodded and walked further into the room while Vasilyev walked out and closed the door behind him. I tried on the clothes and they ended up fitting. They were a little big, but it was good enough for the time being. I found a belt that I hoped he wouldn't miss and used that to keep my pants up. Once I was changed, I took my clothes downstairs with me and walked to the fireplace where Vasilyev was sitting.

"Where should I put my other clothes?" He looked at me and then towards the kitchen and raised his voice so his daughter would hear him.

"Eve! The clothes fit, so take his old stuff out to the wash!" I didn't turn my head until she was right next to me and took the clothes in my arms. She smiled quickly and I smiled back before she ran off to the kitchen again. "There's also wood here for you if you'd like to keep the fire going for a while. I would advise it. It gets very cold late at night. And Eve said dinner won't be much longer."

"Thank you for your kindness."

"You're very welcome. I only have my chair, but I suppose you can sleep in that for tonight. And I think there's some extra blankets in Eve's room, so she'll get those for you before you go to bed for the night. That should probably be soon." I nodded.

"I would say so." Vasilyev stayed seated in his chair and I stood close to the fire. He handed me back my glass that he'd filled with more vodka and handed me another rolled cigarette. We stayed in the living room together in silence drinking and smoking. I stopped after three cigarettes, though. And I stopped drinking after eight shots. I was beginning to get a little light headed. Eventually, Evelina finally came to us from the kitchen and informed us that food was ready. I avoided the urge to run to the kitchen. I hadn't eaten in a while and I was starving. Once we were all sat at the table, I began to eat. I hadn't realized the way I was eating until Vasilyev said something.

"You know, Demetri, it's far more pleasant when you eat with your mouth closed." I stopped eating for a moment and closed my mouth to finish chewing. I apologized after swallowing.

"I'm sorry. I haven't eaten in days."

"I know, but even a hungry man can eat properly." Evelina and I looked at Vasilyev and I looked at my plate a moment before I kept eating, this time trying to chew with my mouth closed.

"So, is it to your liking?" I nodded.

"It's good." Vasilyev chuckled.

"Best part of it is that it'll taste just as good when you're eating regularly again. And my daughter makes excellent desserts. She makes a little cranberry tort that I swear is worthy to feed to God." Evelina smiled.

"You're exaggerating father." Vasilyev shook his head with a smile.

"I never do, Eve. I tell you, Demetri, she makes delicious desserts. And with all the new spices and foods the Mongols brought with them, the Emperor gave me and a few of his other friends some of these things. Coffee, Chocolate, and sugar were the things they brought." I looked at Vasilyev surprised.

"You know the emperor?" He nodded.

"I knew the emperor when he was only a Vice Roy not too long ago. He proclaimed himself emperor when the other fell. But whenever I make a new brew of Vodka, I like to throw a tasting party. I had one not long ago and that's when the emperor brought me those things. My Eve here made a new dessert with them and it was divine. Heavenly even." Even smiled shyly.

"Stop teasing, father."

"Well don't take my word for it. We still have some, so please help yourself to some cranberry pie she made. It's sour and sweet and perfect." I smiled.

"I think I will."

"And tomorrow morning, you can have some coffee. It's just the thing you'll need to wake up in the early morning." I shook my head.

"I'll be alright. I'm used to waking up at dawn. I'll probably be awake before that."

"If you insist. But perhaps later. As for me, I think I'll head to bed now. My vodka's starting to creep up on me and I'm getting tired. Evelina, make sure everything's clean before you go to bed yourself." Evelina nodded.

"I will father."

"As for you, Demetri, you make yourself at home. Let Eve know when you're tired and she'll bring you some blankets."

"Thank you." Vasilyev smiled and walked away and I heard him move around upstairs while the floors creaked and he eventually went to bed. I made sure to finish my dinner quickly. I didn't want Evelina to have to stay up to attend to me. Once I was done, I stood from the table and grabbed my plate. Evelina stood from her chair and grabbed my plate from me.

"Don't worry about cleaning. I'll take care of it. Father offered you some cranberry pie. Do you still want some?" I shook my head.

"No thank you. I don't think I can stand to eat another bite." Evelina smiled.

"Then I'll clean this and get your blankets."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Just make yourself comfortable on the chair in the living room. You know where the wood is, so help yourself if the fire's getting too low for you." I nodded my head and walked to the living room, sitting in the same chair that Vasilyev had been sitting in earlier. The skin of the chair was an animal skin of some type, but the pattern were several circles all around and I didn't know the animal whose pattern that belonged to. The chair itself was very cushy and I almost fell into the chair when I sat down. I'm sure I won't have trouble falling asleep in this chair. A few minutes later, Evelina was standing before me with blankets in her arms. "They're a little old, but they're still good."

"I appreciate it." Evelina smiled and turned to leave, but then she stopped and turned her head to look at me.

"Zolneryev." I looked from the fire back to her and she spoke again when she had my attention. "I know I said this was only for one night. But if the lodge still won't accept you, please don't hesitate to come back." I was a little confused.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Evelina shrugged.

"You seem like good company. And I think father could use to have a young friend like you."

"What do you mean like me?" Evelina was quiet for a moment, then she turned to face me entirely.

"My father grew up a farm boy, like you did. But when he learned the fermenting process and how to make vodka, his life took a U-turn for the better and he climbed up the latter out of poverty. But he tends to forget about that. I think you could help him stay a good person. Not let his head get any bigger I mean. And it's nice to have company around here regardless. I'm usually here alone and father's not the best for conversation. We have such different interests you see."

"Is that why you took me out of the cold then?" Evelina shook her head.

"At first, I had no intention to. You were a strange man at my door and for all I knew, you were a crazy man. But I looked at you a little closer and you looked so helpless. I felt like a horrible person for thinking to leave you out in the cold. So I took you in. Then as the night went on, I felt worse for only giving you one night. That didn't seem fair of me. So I thought I'd offer you more time here. That and you and father seemed to mesh well together. I don't think father would care." I was still surprised. When I'd first met her, she seemed like any other person in this village. Hell bent on leaving me out in the cold and never speaking to me. Now she pitied me. I wasn't thrilled about that, but it was better than contempt.

"I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to. But you have to promise to look at the lodge first. If you don't, I'll slam the door in your face." I smiled a little and she smiled too.

"I'll look at the lodge first. And thank you for your hospitality. You really helped me out."

"Sure. But don't let it slip. Father will be very grumpy with me if suddenly several men like yourself come knocking at our door like stray cats." I chuckled at the analogy.

"I'll keep it as my secret."

"That's all I ask. Well, you must be tired. So get some rest. Maybe I'll see you again tomorrow." Evelina gave me another smile, then turned again to go up the stairs and to her room.

I had feared that the blankets wouldn't be enough, but the fire combined with heavy wool blankets and the build of the house to keep cold air out, I was warm and didn't even need to tend to the fire. I fell asleep when it was almost out and woke up one my own the next morning. When I opened my eyes, it was still really dark out. I probably didn't have much time left before dawn, so I looked around the house for my coat. I managed to find it, but it was still slightly damp when I finally found it in a room I presumed to be the laundry room. I walked out swooshing the coat back at forth trying to dry the fur as much as I could before leaving. Then I saw a light and a figure and out of shear reflex I grabbed a hold of the figure by the neck, then let go when I realized it was Evelina.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was you." Evelina took a moment to catch her breath and waved dismissively.

"No matter. I should've known better not to sneak up on a Zolneryev. I came down here to tell you that there's another coat you can use that's in the laundry. That one should be dry by now."

"It's alright. I'll use mine." Evelina laughed without humor a little.

"And catch your death from cold. Please, use the other one. I'll feel better. If you walk out of this house in that damp coat, I'll start thinking you'll collapse with pneumonia. You do that, and I'll feel bad." I chuckled a little.

"I'm sure no one will suspect I caught a cold because you didn't completely dry my coat."

"I will, and that's what'll weigh on my conscience. Now where the other coat, or I'll force it on you." I fought a laugh and handed her the coat in my hands so I could go to the laundry room to get the other one.

"Will it fit?"

"All the other clothes did, why not this one? There's also some gloves for you. I'd recommend those." I looked out the window and saw the snow coming down and that alone made me feel a chill.

"You might be right about that." Evelina smiled and walked to a closet and took out a heavy coat. She walked over and handed it to me to try on.

"The gloves are in the pocket. They're made of wool, so they'll be nice and warm." I tried on the coat and it fit well enough. It was still a little big for me, but it wasn't that big a deal. It was close enough to my size that it would keep me warm. Evelina noticed that it was big and frowned a little. "I'm sorry, it's a bit big." I shook my head.

"Don't worry, it's not so bad. It'll do for the time being. My coat will be completely dry by tomorrow morning right?" Evelina nodded.

"Would you like a belt for the jacket? I think I can get father to lend you one." I smiled a little guilty.

"I already snatched one of his belts for the pants." Evelina giggled a little.

"Don't worry about it. I can say honestly that it might be best you wear a belt. I'll go get you another belt." Evelina walked out of the kitchen and walked up the stairs to get the belt. I waited for her to come back with another belt. This belt was a lot better quality than the one I snatched.

"Is this belt leather?" Evelina nodded.

"Yes. I thought it would be a good choice. Don't worry, father doesn't wear nearly as many belts as he used to."

"Are you sure he won't mind?" Evelina nodded.

"I'm sure. Now get going. I've met the overseers of these construction projects, and let me tell you, they're not generous on patience." I smiled.

"Alright. And thank you for everything." Evelina nodded.

"And Zolneryev. Remember what I told you last night. If the lodge still won't take you, the chair is still free to you." I chuckled a little and her smile was shy.

"Thank you." After that, I walked to the door and I looked back at her to wave goodbye, but she'd ran up the stairs before I could, so I just closed the door and went on my way.

I got to the job site after a few minutes of fighting the snow storm on my walk over there. And when I arrived, there were several men there that I didn't know, but most of them were addressed as Zolneryev, just as I was. Consequently, since we all had the same names, they had to address us by our first names. And when they couldn't remember that, they just said 'you' and waited for the attention of the person they were talking to. Though they never stood to wait very long.

The first day wasn't so horrible. It wasn't quite like what I was used to when I was younger, but it was close enough that it didn't bother me too much. I was used to breaking and lifting things. Around high noon, the overseers threw some bread at all of us and gave us five minutes to eat lunch, no exceptions. I managed to finished eating in two and when I was done, I was ordered to get back to work. Working for these people actually reminded me a little of the village generals that had brought themselves to leadership when I was a soldier. We weren't released until the sun was about to set and I walked through the piles of snow with my back slightly sore and my muscles throbbing.

As I promised I would, I went to the lodge first to look for shelter. But same as last night, they had no spots open for me and they sent me away. They did tell me that four of the men were due to move in a few days, so I could check again then. After talking with the person at the entrance, I walked back to Vasilyev's home. I looked around a moment, then walked around the house hoping no one would see me walk in. I wasn't sure how they would be treated for sheltering me, and I didn't want to put them out any further than I already had. Once I was at the side of the house where the door to the wood pile was, I knocked a few times and waited. A few seconds later, Evelina opened to door.

"Did you check at the lodge first?" I nodded with a small smile.

"Yes, I did. They said they still weren't taking anyone new. But they did say that if I checked back in a few days, they might have an open place for me. Evidently, four men are due to move out." Evelina smiled and stepped aside to welcome me in. She closed the door behind me once I was inside. I looked around and noticed that Vasilyev wasn't there. "Is your father already asleep?"

"Yes, he's asleep. He gets cranky when he stays up too long, so he usually goes to bed early. I wasn't sure if you were coming or not, but I kept some food out for you if you're hungry." I nodded.

"I'm starving." Evelina smiled.

"I'm sure. I made chicken again though. I hope you don't mind." I shook my head.

"Not at all. I'm grateful for the food to begin with." Evelina giggled.

"Gratefulness. I like that. Now come and eat before your food gets cold." I smiled and followed Evelina to the kitchen. I took a seat when she put the food on the table and I began eating. Still conscience of what Vasilyev had told me the night before, I was careful not to chew with my mouth closed. Evelina sat at the table with me and waited a moment to ask if I liked it.

"Is it to your liking?" I nodded.

"Yes, thank you. It's delicious." Evelina smiled.

"I'm happy to hear it. I would offer you that pie father was talking about, but I'm afraid he ate the last of it with his vodka earlier. He even crushed cranberries into his vodka." I chuckled.

"That sounds tasty." Evelina nodded.

"I liked it. Father only ever lets me drink when he does something creative and he wants my opinion. I remember how father made it, so I could make some for you if you like." I nodded.

"That would be nice actually. I don't suppose you know how to roll a cigarette do you?" Evelina smiled, but shook her head.

"Sorry, no. Father never lets me see. He thinks smoking is a masculine habit and doing so would be unladylike of me. It's the same reason he doesn't let me drink often."

"I can't say I disagree. Though I'm hardly in a position to tell you what to do."

"Indeed. I'll bring you what you need to make it, then I'll start your drink."

"Thank you. By the way, will your father be alright with me spending another night?" Evelina shook her head.

"Not at all. I already talked to him about it a few house ago and he said it was alright. But he also asked me to tell you that you will need to find your own place within the required time. Unless father goes with you to the Citizen's Registration's office where you became a citizen and tell them he's allowing you to live here, failing to move out would put you in violation of your agreement and they'd have to exile you."

"I had a feeling that would be the case. Don't worry. Once I get some money, I'll look. I might just build a place since they said that was permitted. I won't have it done, but I can at least tell them I'm working on it." Evelina shook her head.

"No, it has to be done. You have two months to finish it or you're not allowed to stay. That's how this province gets rid of some Zolneryev. They never really specify that the house has to be done within two full moons." I felt a little rage build up and I straightened my back and looked at Evelina.

"That's unreasonable. I can't finish a house in two months AND work at the same time. That's not possible. I'd never get any sleep."

"I know. That's the point. Your only hope is to get enough money to buy a home. Many have done it, but they're stuck sharing a one room house between them. One home I know of is a one room house holding twenty men. They're miserable as I'm sure you can imagine. Father says they have to sleep on the floor all smooshed together. On the bright side, they're always warm during winter."

"So all my hard work will inevitably only get me a small house full of men. Wonderful." Evelina made a guilty smile.

"I don't suppose men are your fancy are they?" I gave her a weird look. I had no clue what she was talking about.

"I beg your pardon?" She shook her head.

"If you don't know what I'm talking about, it means the answer is no. Don't worry about it." I sighed.

"I don't suppose you or your father know of one that's a little less packed do you?"

"I don't know of any that house less than ten." I groaned, then chuckled a little and looked up at Evelina.

"I don't suppose your father would mind if I lived here for a while would he?" Evelina smiled and shrugged.

"I could always ask him first. I'll talk to him tomorrow. That way, you two can talk it out more as soon as you get back. No pleasantries needed."

"So you don't expect me to check at the lodge first before coming here?" Evelina waved her hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about it. Just come here. The lodge did say it would be a while before there were any free spots after all."

"You're so kind." Evelina smiled.

"How sweet of you to say." We were quiet and she left the kitchen to fetch the things I needed to role a cigarette. Then she made me a drink while I rolled it. I had it done by the time my drink was on the table. Evelina took a candle and lit my cigarette with it, then took a seat with me when she put it back. "So let me ask you."

"Ask me what?"

"When the war was over, why didn't you go home to your family? I'm sure they would've welcomed you back home even if you lost." I shook my head.

"They're dead. I'm pretty certain. The Mongols left no village untouched. I didn't want to see what they'd done." I huffed a laugh. "I think your father would call me a coward for it."

"It sounds like something he'd say. So did you have any children?" I shook my head.

"I'm only nineteen. I entered the war when I was sixteen. I was far from marrying age at the time."

"I see. So no wife and children lost. Only parents and siblings?" I nodded solemnly.

"Pretty much." Wanting to change the subject, I turned attention to her. "So what about you? You look old enough to be married and out of the house. Why aren't you?" Evelina smiled.

"I'll be married soon. Since father and the emperor are close friends, he arranged for me to marry the Emperor's oldest son. He's a bit older than me, but it's not so bad. He's not grey yet at the very least." I chuckled.

"Ah. So I'm in the presence of a future empress? How rude of me never to bow my head." Evelina giggled.

"I'm not the empress yet. I won't be for a long time, no matter when I marry. Not until the current emperor passes away of course."

"So when are you getting married?"

"In the summer. There will be a lovely ceremony at the castle and the priest from the church will perform the ceremony and there will be flowers everywhere and good food and plenty of entertainment. It'll be a magical evening." I smiled.

"It sounds like it. I wish you the best."

"Thank you." We were quiet and I kept breathing in the smoke, relaxing. I finally took a sip of vodka and squinted my eyes a moment. It was really sour, but it had some sweetness to it that wasn't usually in cranberries and it was really appealing.

"What is this?" Evelina lost her smile a little.

"You don't like it?" I shook my head.

"No, it's good. But what's in this?"

"Oh, well vodka and cranberries of course. The sweetness you taste is a little syrup I learned how to make. You take equal parts of sugar and water and boil them together until it forms a syrupy consistency. And when you do that, the sugar is twice as sweet. Father's planning on showing off this little drink soon, so he'll be planning a party for most of the rest of the week."

"Wow. I've never had vodka like this. It's delicious. I have to say, you're father's right about you being good at making desserts." Evelina blushed.

"Thank you for that. You made my day." Evelina's smile turned from happy, to elated. "I just had a great idea."

"Did you?" Evelina nodded.

"You should come to the tasting party. Especially if father agrees to let you live here for an extended period of time." I shook my head after the initial surprise from her offer wore off.

"Oh no, I shouldn't. That wouldn't be appropriate. I don't want you or your father being ridiculed because of me." Evelina kept smiling.

"Oh don't worry about it. I'm sure once you're cleaned up a bit and shave that pesky beard, they won't even suspect you. And I'm sure Potrushkov won't even recognize you."

"Potrushkov?"

"The man who works at the citizen office that you registered at. Remember, the elderly man who wears silk all the time?"

"Oh, him. I never learned his name. But he did give me a list of the alphabet and taught me how to spell my name." Evelina looked a little surprised.

"You mean you can't read?" I shook my head.

"Not at all. I remember a few of the letters, but I haven't memorized it." Evelina tilted her head a little.

"Was it by chance in your coat?" I was about to nod, but then my eyes widened and I groaned and held my head down. "I take that as a yes?"

"I can't believe I forgot to take that out." Evelina giggled a little.

"Don't worry about it. I'll make you a new one." I looked up at her.

"You will?"

"Sure. Your first name is Demetri right?" I nodded.

"Yes it is. I know I must seem silly, but it really means a lot to me." Evelina shook her head.

"It does seem a little silly. But then, when you're taught how to read at childhood, it tends to feel unimportant at times. I fear I'm like father in the sense that I forget that not everyone has it as good as we do and my head gets a little big." I chuckled.

"Would you like me to stick around so it doesn't get bigger when you become a princess?" Evelina giggled and nodded her head.

"I think that would be nice. You can be my…down to earth guy." Evelina and I shared a laugh while she found a piece of paper and a pencil and wrote down the alphabet and my name. "Here you go. The alphabet and your name."

"Thank you." I looked it over a little more and tried to remember what Potrushkov had taught me. I couldn't remember everything, so I concentrated on what I could remember. After the silence, Evelina cut it with a sweet voice.

"Would you like me to teach you how to read?" I looked up at her surprised. "It seem unfair to just give you the letters and not teach you how to put them together wouldn't you agree?" I was quiet a moment.

"I….I don't know what to say." Evelina smiled.

"Yes. Yes thank you. Allow me to kiss your feet, goddess." We both laughed a little. "Don't worry, that last one was a joke." I chuckled and nodded.

"Yes thank you, then. So when should we start?" Evelina shrugged.

"How about we take a few minutes now. We can go over how to say each letter tonight and see if you can remember it tomorrow night. Once you memorize the alphabet, then we'll start learning how to spell." I grinned.

"That sounds nice." Evelina smiled and she re-taught me how to pronounce all the letters and made sure I knew how to say each one properly. We went over it five times until she told me we should call it a night.

I went to bed as soon as I finished my last cigarette and my drink and was asleep in seconds. The next morning, I woke up the same time as last and I left for work as soon as I was dressed and had eaten something. I didn't see Evelina or Vasilyev before I left. It was the same routine as the day before and it was just as tiring. Maybe more so. When the day was over, I went straight to Vasilyev's home as Evelina advised and knocked on the side door like the day before. Evelina answered the door and she had a smile on her face. Then she welcomed me in and Vasilyev was sitting in his chair with my blankets next to him on the floor. When the door was closed, Vasilyev held his left hand out, holding an unlit cigarette in that hand.

"Come here, Demetri. Smoke, have a drink with me." His tone was a little flat, so I was a bit nervous. I looked at Evelina, who was still smiling and nodded at me. I took a deep breath and walked over to him. I took the cigarette and lit it and took a deep breath of smoke and sipped the vodka that he handed me. "My daughter tells me that she thinks we should let you live here. Until you finish building your own home."

"It came up, yes." Vasilyev turned to look at me, still looking stern, but then he smiled.

"Well, these past two days, you've shown yourself to be a civil man. A little rough around the edges, but nothing I would have to fear I think."

"I won't hurt you or your daughter, Vasilyev. I'm grateful for your help and I owe you for it."

"Indeed you do. But I won't expect anything. Only that you continue to be a good guest in my home. I managed to arrange a party for later in the week and Potrushkov is coming. We'll talk to him then and arrange for you to live here indefinitely. Though I do expect you to make an effort to build yourself your own home." I nodded.

"Of course. Absolutely."

"You strike me as a man of your word, so I'm trusting you Zolneryev." I nodded my head and he offered me his hand to shake it. I wasn't sure if we were friends per se, but if nothing else, he was kinder to me than I could hope for in this place. "And as my daughter suggested, get rid of that beard. And take a long hot bath when you can."

"But I work until sunset. Will I be able to meet with Potrushkov with you before he leaves?" Vasilyev waved his hand dismissively.

"Don't fret about that. My parties tend to last well into the night. Don't worry. You'll be back before my party ends. Come in through the side as always and get a little warmed up before coming to me and Potrushkov. We'll write out all the needed paper work here and he can make it official the next day." I bowed my head.

"I'm grateful."

"I know you are. But thank my daughter. She insisted upon this. I'm not sure if I should be concerned there's something going on or if you're simply fast friends."

"I assure you sir, it's simply fast friends."

"I would hope so. I'm glad we spoke about this. Now I'm tired, so I'm going to bed. You construction workers get home so late. I nearly fell asleep waiting for you." Vasilyev stood from the chair.

"Have another cigarette and shot of vodka if you wish. Then sleep. I'll possibly see you in the morning or late night. My daughter will let you know the day before the party to get a bath. Now then, I bid you goodnight."

"Goodnight, sir." Vasilyev smiled, then walked towards the stairs and went to bed. I looked at Evelina with the same smile she gave me. "Thank you for everything."

"I already told you I was doing this. But now that father's in bed, why don't we go over your alphabet while you have some dinner. There's still some left for you."

"That would be nice." Evelina and I walked to the kitchen and she quizzed me on what we'd done the night before. I remembered most, but a few I still hadn't remembered. So she taught it to me a few more times, then quizzed me again. The second time, I remembered everything.

The rest of the week went on like that. I never saw Vasilyev. He was either still in bed or had just gone to bed, so it was always Evelina I saw when I came back. We would go over the alphabet and she'd make sure I remembered, and half way through that week, she said we could start learning how to spell small words. She would give me three or four words and tell me what they were. Then she would tell me to write them over and over again while saying the words until I filled the page. It was a tedious way t learn, but it helped me remember. One day when I arrived back, Vasilyev was in bed as usual and Evelina was in the kitchen. There was food for me already on the table. I sat down and Evelina gave me a shot of vodka.

"I hate to rush you, but father's party is tomorrow evening. So you might want to bath tonight. I'll have a hot bath ready for you before you finish eating."

"Do you want me to help you?"

"I'll call for help if the pots end up being too heavy. You might not be able to go in the bath for a bit, though. I need to boil the water to make sure it's warm enough for you."

"That's fine with me. Just call me when you want me to lift it." Evelina smiled.

"I've had the first batch of water on the fire for a while now. If it's boiling, I might need your help now. But I'll go check." Evelina went to another room, the laundry room, to check on the water. She came back and leaned against the door. "Come, mister big strong man. I'm in need of your muscle." I chuckled and put down my fork and stood from my chair to help her.

"I'm coming." I walked to the laundry room and met Evelina at a large bot. It was filled completely with boiling water. Evelina handed me a glove.

"Use this. Otherwise this pot will burn your hands when you pick it up. It's not pleasant. I know, it's happened to me." I smiled and took the glove she handed me. Once we both had a glove on, we lifted the both together and poured it all into a large tube in the middle of the room. Once the water was all there, we placed the large pot back on the flames. "Okay. Now do me a favor and fill this up with as much snow as you can fit in it. And don't worry if the snow pills tall. It'll all melt down."

"Alright." Evelina gave me the other glove to put on my right hand so I could carry the pot outside and fill it with snow. Most of the snow melted back into water upon entering the pot. When I brought it back in, the snow was water and ready to be boiled.

"Thank you. Now we'll let this get to a boil. This is the last one we'll need to fill up the bath. And since it'll take a bit, finish up your dinner, then I'll shave you."

"I can shave my face. You don't have too." Evelina shook her head.

"Father wants you to have as few cuts on your face as possible. That tends to work better when someone does the shaving for you. At least that's from my life experience. Don't worry, I won't cut you. I shave father's face all the time. He'd be dead if I didn't." I smiled.

"If you have to."

"Good. Now finish dinner so we can get started. While you're eating, you can show me if you remember how to spell the words we learned last night. And if you do well, we'll start reading a book together. That's the best way to learn more words at a time."

"A book? What will we read?" Evelina shrugged.

"My father has a bible laying around here somewhere. That'll be perfect. And I'm planning to have you sound out the word first. And if you need some help, we'll have the alphabet handy nearby and I'll help. You'll be reading in no time."

"Thank you, Evelina." Evelina and I went to the kitchen and just as she said we would, we went over the words form last night and she was pleased with me for remembering them all. She then made me spell all the words that she'd taught me through the week and was pleased that I'd only misspelled one. That was easy enough to fix.

Once I was finished eating and we'd gone over all the words, the water wasn't quite boiling yet, so Evelina decided to shave me. I was avoiding shaking while she was shaving away my beard. What made me nervous was the knife she held in her hand so close to my throat. I never felt her cut me and the shave itself took a very long time. She was certainly thorough. When she was done, she held up a mirror to show me. I was stunned. There really wasn't a single cut on my face or neck. And I'd forgotten what I looked like without a beard. I'd had it for so long.

"I have to tell you, you look a good twenty years younger without that beard." I smiled.

"I guess I do. I take it you don't like beards?" Evelina shook her head.

"I'm not fond of them. My future husband has one and I'm hoping he'll allow me to shave it off before the wedding." I shrugged.

"I'm sure he wouldn't care if you asked. But my face feels cold now."

"Of course. We just shaved a rug off your face. But don't worry, you'll warm up pretty quickly. Especially once you take a hot bath. I'll go to bed for tonight. When you're done, throw all the water back outside. Don't throw the water on the wood or in front of the door. Do it off to the side alright." I nodded.

"Alright, I will."

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night."

"Good night." Evelina and I smiled at each other before she left the laundry room to go upstairs for bed. When she was gone, I closed the door and undressed. There was a towel there left for me to use as well as my old clothes that were now clean, as was my coat. I touched my toe to the water to test it, but realized it was too hot. I had to wait a good fifteen minutes before I was able to comfortably get into the water.

When I was able to, the feel of the water was really relaxing and I nearly fell asleep in that tub. I splashed my face with the hot water and embraced the sting I felt from the water. After a few minutes of soaking in the water, I finally came out and dried off as best I could so I could go to bed. The next morning, I was awake before anyone else in the house and left for work early. When I went back that night, the lights were much brighter than normal and I could hear voices pouring out of the house with excitement. I walked to the side door as usual and knocked on the door. Evelina answered and she was wearing a dress that reminded me of the cloth Potrushkov had been wearing. It was heavy looking and the sleeves were long and almost completely covered her hands and her hair was held back with a pin. She spoke quietly as she let me in.

"It's not very hot, but there's some water in the tub in the laundry room so you can clean up a little bit. And there's some appropriate clothes hung there for you to put on when you're clean. When you're dressed, come find me or father and we'll get to work with Potrushkov."

Evelina didn't give me much time to respond. She simply pushed me gently towards the laundry room and I walked there and closed the door behind me. I touched the water to check the temperature, and as she warned, it wasn't very warm at all. It was near cold even. But I undressed and cleaned myself of the dirt and grime from the day before getting dressed in the appropriate clothes that Evelina and Vasilyev had given me to wear. It wasn't extremely fancy and that made me more comfortable, but like all the other clothes I'd burrowed, this was too big. Thankfully, I still had two belts I could use, so I chose the leather one and made sure I looked alright, mostly by feel. Once I was ready, I opened the door and looked around and saw Evelina in the kitchen area talking to a very well dressed man that looked a little older than her, but his hair wasn't grey yet. She looked towards me and waved me over. I walked to her and she spoke once I was close enough.

"Last time I checked, father is standing next to the fireplace. Good luck alright." I nodded.

"Thanks for everything, I mean that."

"Don't mention it." I was about to walk away, but the well dressed man stopped me.

"And who are you? I've never seen you before." Evelina answered for me.

"He's a family friend. He doesn't have close friendships with the better off is all. That's why you don't know him. Forgive me for not introducing you two." She looked at the both of us and we looked towards each other. "Demetri, this is my fiancé, Andros. Andros, this is Demetri." I was a little taken back at first. She'd never called me by my first name before. It was so strange. Andros held out his hand.

"Well, then, it's a pleasure to meet a friend of the family. What is it that you do?" Again, Evelina answered for me.

"He works with my father as a brewer." Andros held up his hand.

"Let him answer me, Evelina." Then he looked at me again. Evelina looked at me and begged me with her eyes to play along. I nodded my head.

"I work for her father."

"And how long have you been working for him?"

"Not long." I glanced at Evelina again, but I wasn't sure why. I knew she wouldn't be able to help me out anymore in the conversation.

"Where did you work before this?" I was stiff a moment because I had no idea what to say. Saving me, Evelina spoke up.

"Demetri, you should probably go find father. He had some important business to discuss with you." Then Evelina looked at Andros. "You don't mind do you, dear?" Andros shook his head.

"Of course not. If it's business, then please don't let me keep you." I bowed my head respectfully.

"Thank you. It was nice to meet you."

"It was a pleasure to meet you too." I smiled and we shook hands again before I walked away, relieved I didn't have to lie anymore for the time being, and looked for Vasilyev. I found him next to the fireplace as Evelina said he would be and conveniently enough, he was already in a conversation with Potrushkov. There were a few other people joined in the conversation, but I walked up to Vasilyev and waited for him to notice me. When he did, he looked around the group.

"Gentlemen, I fear I must talk business with Potrushkov. I hope you wouldn't mind giving us a moment would you?" All the men who were talking to him shook their heads saying they didn't mind and they all walked away to talk to others. That left me alone with Vasilyev and Potrushkov.

"What is it you wish to speak with ME about of all people?" Potrushkov spoke with a laugh in his voice. Vasilyev remained to the point, but pleasant.

"Well, I have to speak to you regarding a Zolneryev that you welcomed into the province. A Demetri Zolneryev." Potrushkov was a bit confused.

"Demetri Zolneryev? In all honestly, Argo, there have been several Demetri's come through here. Some aren't even here anymore because they were exiled or killed."

"I understand that, but the one I'm speaking of is standing right next to me. Demetri Zolneryev came here a few days ago I believe. And I wish to offer him a permanent residence at my home. He's proven very useful to me." Potrushkov looked at me a little surprised.

"You? A Zolneryev? I never would've guessed." I finally realized he didn't remember me, even if he could recognize me. So I stayed pleasant and nodded.

"Yes, I am. I'm the one you gave that sheet of paper to." Potrushkov had no idea what I was talking about, so I let it go. "Never mind."

"Anyway, Potrushkov, I was hoping we could handle that paper work now. I can take you both to my office and we can take care of business there." For whatever reason, Potrushkov looked a little reluctant at first, but then he shrugged.

"If you wish. Just remember, it needs his signature too." I smiled.

"I know how to spell my name sir, so it won't be a problem." Again, Potrushkov was a little surprised, then he really looked at me and finally realized who I was.

"Oh. You're the one I gave THAT piece of paper to." I nodded.

"Yes sir, I am."

"Well, you seem to have done well in the days you've come here. I'm impressed. Few ever get to stay here let alone live under the roof of a prominent figure."

"Oh Potrushkov, I'm hardly a prominent figure. I'm a brewer. Now please, let us get this paperwork done and enjoy the rest of the party." We both nodded and followed Vasilyev to his office upstairs in his room and Potrushkov wrote out all the paperwork and we all signed it, making me an official resident of the home. When Potrushkov left the room, leaving me and Vasilyev, I looked at him with a smile.

"Thank you for this, Vasilyev."

"Don't mention it. Just remember that this isn't permanent. I want you to hold up your end of the deal and work on your own home or buy your own. If you wish to save up enough to buy a house that's fine too, but let me know that's what you're doing." I nodded.

"I will sir. I'll buy a house as soon as I can. How much does it cost usually?"

"My home cost me ten pieces of gold, but I imagine one of the smaller houses that Zolneryev usually get are only worth a piece of silver or two. And a single piece of silver is worth fifty brass pieces. They won't accept brass though, so when you have enough, take it to the currency office near the castle and they'll exchange the money for you."

"As soon as I'm able, sir." Vasilyev looked at me and smiled.

"Don't be in too much of a hurry. I'm rather fond of your company when I can have it, so I'd like to keep you around for at least a few weeks. But if you're not out in a year, I will get a bit impatient." I laughed a little and nodded my head.

"If you say so, Vasilyev."

"Good. Now get back down there. A good party is just what you need." I shook my head.

"Forgive me sir, but I do have to work tomorrow. I think it might be best if I turn in for the night. I can sleep up here on the floor." Vasilyev shook his head.

"Not in my room. The slightest noise wakes me up, so I can't share a room. My daughter has room and the blankets were put back in there. So you sleep on the floor in there, alright. Pleasant dreams. And if you need a pillow, my daughter has extras of those too."

"Thank you, Vasilyev."

"You're welcome. Now get off to bed. Goodnight." Vasilyev walked out of his room and closed the door behind him when I was out. I said goodnight to him and he walked down the stairs back to his little tasting party. I walked to Evelina's room and found the blankets I'd been using on the floor next to her bed.

There were two pillows on her bed, so I snatched the one that looked the least used and put it on the floor with the blankets. I fell asleep after a few minutes of trying to find a comfortable spot on the floor. The next morning when I woke up, Evelina was in her bed asleep. Her face was peaceful and happy. She had such a sweet face when she slept. It was something a husband would be lucky to wake up to every morning. I looked at her nightstand and saw a glace filled with a red drink and a little note next to it. I saw my name at the top, so I took the paper and tried reading it. It took a few minutes to remember what letter meant what, but I did eventually decipher the note.

_Demetri,_

_ If you cracked this code, the drink on the nightstand is for you._

_Evelina_

I smiled to myself and looked at the drink. I sipped a little and realized it was the drink Evelina had told me about early and had already let me try. I drank the rest of the liquor and left the glass on the nightstand. I then took out of list of letters and tried to think how each word would be spelled. When I had an idea of what it should be, I turned the paper and wrote on the back, "thanks for the vodka", and rested the piece of paper against the glass. I had a feeling I'd misspelled one or more of the words, but at least I tried. She would appreciate that I made an effort. I went to work before anyone was awake and came back when Vasilyev was already sound asleep in his room. Evelina was sitting in the chair next to the fireplace and I found her asleep already. I gently touched her shoulder and she was stunned awake and looked at me stunned.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." I groaned a little and rubbed her eyes, all while shaking her head gently.

"Not at all. I was waiting for you."

"What for?" Evelina stretched a little before standing from the chair. Then she looked at me with a smile, reached into her pocket, and pulled out the note from this morning.

"This isn't my father's handwriting, so I'm making the grand assumption that you wrote this note." I smiled and nodded a little shyly.

"Yeah, I did. I thought you would appreciate it." Evelina nodded.

"Indeed I did. I'm happy to see that all the work you're putting in is beginning to really pay off. In fact, I think you can start reading the bible tomorrow. You've definitely shown enough progress." Evelina and I shared a small laugh before she turned around and started walking to the kitchen. I followed behind her and stopped at the entrance when she reached into the small icebox and pulled out something from earlier tonight. "Here's some dinner for you if you're hungry."

"Famished. Thank you."

"Do you want me to heat it up?" I shook my head.

"That's alright. I'm so hungry, I'd eat it raw." Evelina giggled and put the plate of food on the table. I took a seat and started eating and Evelina took a seat next to me. "You don't have to stay up with me." She shook her head.

"It's alright. I wanted to talk to someone anyway." I shrugged.

"What do you want to talk about?" Evelina took a moment to think a little about what she wanted to talk about. I continued eating; waiting for her to think of something she would want to say. She wasn't silent very long and gave me the first practical question that popped into her head.

"Have you started looking for a place to live yet?" I smiled.

"So eager to be rid of me? Don't worry, I'll start looking tomorrow. My boss said there wouldn't be much work tomorrow, so we'd be leaving for home before nightfall." Evelina shook her head.

"I'm not eager to be rid of you. On the contrary, I'm a little sad. I've enjoyed your company and I'm sad to see it go so soon." I was surprised by her words. I wasn't sure what to say in response, so instead of making a fool of myself, I said nothing. She eventually broke the silence. "Are you eager to leave?" I shook my head.

"No, I've enjoyed my time here. You and your father have been kind to me. I'm grateful."

"So you've said many times." I lost my smile, though she kept hers. Her tone seemed off for some reason.

"Is there something wrong?" Evelina shrugged.

"I've just become so used to having you around that the idea of you not being here makes me a little sad. I won't have anyone to talk to other than father anymore."

"You have your fiancé right?"

"Of course, but I hardly see him. I won't begin to see him more often until we're married and that's far from now."

"Summer?"

"Yes, summer, but it's so far away." I smiled a little.

"You're both very lucky. You seem to love him very much."

"I wouldn't say love exactly. Though he's a kind man, I'm not in love. We barely know each other. And of course he's several years older than me. We don't have as much in common as I've seen with other couples. I suppose you could say I'm fond of him at best." I sighed a little.

"I'm not sure I should be hearing this." Evelina shook her head.

"No, it's alright. Forgive me, it's my fault. I shouldn't be burdening you with my grievances. Though I must admit, you're an easy man to talk to. It's nice to be spoken to instead of spoken at." I smiled.

"I'm happy to provide that much to you." Evelina nodded. Then she scooted closer to me and looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Just promise that you won't become a stranger after you no longer live here. I like to think we've become friends through this whole thing and I would love for us to stay friends." I smiled and nodded.

"Of course. For everything you've done, it's the least I can do." Evelina's smile widened and she rested her head against my shoulder, which took me by surprise and I became a little stiff.

"That's all I ask." Evelina kept her head on my shoulder for a while. I ended up continuing with my dinner, not sure what else I could do. After a while, Evelina finally took her head off my shoulder and stood from the table. "I'll see you in the morning, Demetri. Do me a favor and clean the dishes before you go to bed." I nodded.

"Alright. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Evelina then left me alone in the kitchen and walked upstairs to her room. I stayed downstairs and cleaned up my plate like she asked me to and went to sleep as soon as I was able.

As I had promised, the next day, I began looking for my own home. I finally had enough for at least the first month of rent and I was hoping that would be enough to get my own place as soon as possible. Any home that I could afford or was even allowed to get was on the outskirts of the town closer to the construction sites and only one was empty. It had been recently built and I was the first worker to make an offer on the place. Amazingly, the man selling the small home was willing to let me have it, but I had better be prepared to share the home with a few others. I signed a few papers and the home was mine within the hour and I went back to the Vasilyev home before nightfall. Vasilyev and Evelina were both awake and having dinner together when I knocked on the door and Evelina answered.

"You weren't kidding when you said you would be able to leave before nightfall." I nodded.

"And I have good news. I found a place today." I was looking at Vasilyev and his brows raised in surprise.

"You don't say. That certainly didn't take you very long. I'm impressed." I smiled.

"It's a bit small and I might have to share it with a few others later, but for now, it's all mine." Vasilyev chuckled.

"That's good to hear. I'll tell you what. I'll arrange for you to be the only one living there." I shook my head.

"You don't have to. Though I admit, I wouldn't be opposed to making sure it doesn't go over three." Vasilyev smiled.

"Make it two maximum and you've got a deal. I'll talk to the man that sold you the home right away. What was his name?"

"Jurgis Zaitzev I think."

"Ah yes, him. I know who he is. Don't worry about a thing, Zolneryev. I'll take care of it. Now please, sit with us. It'll be the first time you've ever had dinner with us." I nodded and walked over to the table and took a seat to Vasilyev's right, across from where Evelina had been sitting. She fetched me a plate of food and placed it in front of me before sitting back down. She was smiling, but it was faint and I think she seemed a little sad. "Now, Zolneryev. How long will it be before you live there officially?"

"I can move in tomorrow. I don't have many things to transport. I can do it all in one night. And the home is already fully furnished, so I don't have to buy any other things."

"How wonderful. But please, stay one last night, just for old time's sake. Then once you're on your own, maybe you can come back and visit from time to time. You're always welcome to one of my tasting parties."

"That's so generous of you, sir." Vasilyev waved his hand dismissively.

"Think nothing of it. You've been an excellent guest in my home. You've earned it." I smiled and took a bite of the food when Evelina put her hand on her father's arm and looked at him.

"Father, maybe you should offer him a job. That might be a greater gift to him." I looked at Evelina stunned and Vasilyev chuckled gently.

"That's just a little overly generous wouldn't you say, Eve? I do all that for him; he'll become the scrutiny of all other Zolneryev. Not to mention all the upper-classmen that will think it strange to employ a Zolneryev in a business such as mine."

"It will be strange father, but think of it as revolutionary. You would be the first to ever hire a Zolneryev into your brewery. You'd be famous." Vasilyev chuckled and I shook my head.

"You don't have to do that." Vasilyev looked back at me.

"Don't worry. My daughter is simply trying to be kind. But now that she's brought it up, I can't get the thought out of my mind. I turn you away once. Perhaps that was a mistake on my part."

"And father, I've been helping him learn to read. He's more useful to you that way isn't he?" Vasilyev looked at Evelina surprised, then looked at me with the same face.

"Is this true?" A moment passed before I nodded my head nervously. Vasilyev chuckled and patted Evelina's back. "You must be the luckiest man in the world, Zolneryev. Alright. As of tomorrow, you work for me. I'll have your landlord spread the news to your superiors tomorrow when I talk to him. I'll have you start small. And if you impress me, then I'll bring you up higher."

I was quiet while Evelina and Vasilyev smiled at me. I wasn't sure what to say or do. This wasn't what I had ever thought would happen to me when I came here, but here I was being given a job that no man in my position could ever hope for. Vasilyev wasn't angered by my silence. He smiled at the look on my face and stood up from the table, having finished his dinner.

"Now that I think of it, you take tomorrow morning to move all your things to the new house you'll be staying in. Come to the brewery as soon as you're done with that. And worry not, your pay will be much better than it had been before. And your hours will naturally be shorter, so feel free to come join us for dinner at any time. Please excuse me for now. I must take a bath, then I plan to go upstairs and read for a while before bed."

Vasilyev left to the other room where the tub was that was already filled with hot water ready for him. Once Evelina and I were alone, I looked at her and she seemed happy. I was still shocked by what had happened and nothing came to mind as to what to say. Evelina lost her smile after all the silence and I finally spoke, my voice still small.

"Why did you do that?" When I said that, her face almost looked heartbroken.

"You're not happy?" I shook my head and put my fork down.

"It's not that. I'm surprised that you would go so far as to ask your father to give me a job. I'm asking why you would do something so generous for me." Evelina was now the one that was quiet a moment. Then she motioned her head towards the living room and stood up from her chair to go there. I followed her and stopped when we were both in front of the fireplace.

"I told you yesterday that I like to think we've become friends since you've arrived." I smiled a little.

"I think so too. I just never knew that we had become close enough that you were willing to stick your neck out for me as it were."

"Of course." There was silence again and the both of us were looking at our feet. Evelina eventually broke the silence. "It also because I was hoping to keep you close. I've become so fond of you that I didn't want to see you leave. I suppose asking father to hire you was a way for me to make sure I'd see you."

"Oh." There was another silence between us as something seemed to click in my head that I hadn't noticed before. It seemed she was _fond_ of me. I wasn't sure what I could say. I felt a little guilty now.

"I'm sorry. I'm being too forward." I shook my head.

"No, it's alright." We were quiet again. Then I spoke, asking a question I wasn't sure I wanted to ask. "When you say you're fond of me…..do you mean you…..care..for me."

"Of course I care for you. Why would I ask father to hire you if that weren't the case?" I shook my head.

"I mean….do you…love me." Evelina became aware and held her head down.

"I wouldn't say it quite like that. I think it may be something else. Attraction perhaps." This was extremely bizarre and we both knew it. But worse, she was engaged and any romantic involvement of any kind would be detrimental to everything involved.

"Forgive me for being frank, but I won't be a stud." Evelina looked at me angrily, but still kept her voice down when she spoke.

"I never asked you to do that. I would never ask that of you."

"I'm just saying that I won't allow us to have a romantic relationship. We're friends, nothing more."

"You don't need to say that. I had no intention of starting anything. I had no intention of telling you about any of this. But you asked and I told. That's all. Just because I hinted there was physical attraction doesn't mean I'm implying a deeper relationship than what's here." I sighed.

"Never mind. I'm sorry I offended you. Let's just not talk about it." There was silence again between us. Neither of us were looking at each other because the air was so thick and awkward. She was the one who eventually said something and it was the last thing I wanted to talk about.

"Is that to say you're not attracted to me?" I sighed.

"That's hardly important isn't it?"

"Just answer my question."

"Yes, I find you attractive, but that doesn't mean I'll throw up your skirt and hump you like a dog."

"That's quite a vulgar way to word it."

"What else should I say? One minute we're friends, now we're awkwardly discussing not having any romantic involvement. How did this happen?" Evelina sighed heavily.

"Are you finished eating?" The 180 in topics threw me off for a minute and I couldn't answer right away. I eventually answered.

"Yes."

"Then I'll start cleaning. You can get your things together so you're ready for tomorrow morning."

Once she was in the kitchen cleaning, I sat in the chair I'd been sleeping in and rolled myself a cigarette and poured myself a shot of vodka, then poured myself another when I was threw with that. By the time Vasilyev came out of the laundry room from his bath, it had been several minutes of awkward silence between me and Evelina. I made sure not to show it when he looked at me and told me he expected me at work tomorrow. I managed to fall asleep that night, but I didn't get a very good night's rest. That morning I took all my things to my new home and went right back to town where the brewery was closest to and walked in. I asked someone where I should go and he sent me to Vasilyev's office at the top floor of the brewery. When I walked in, he was smoking a cigarette and motioned for me to come in.

"Good, you're here. I must admit, you're earlier than I thought. But anywhere, here's what you will be doing. You'll be carrying barrels from here to the donkey cart, then to the castle. That's where vodka is rationed out to anyone who has the money. And here's a tip. Make sure you get everything there without breaking any of the barrels. They give you a little extra money when you do that. This is pretty much an all day thing. I've come to a point where I have new barrels ready every week and it's a lot of them."

"Understood."

"And when you're done for the day, as I said, you're welcome to have dinner with us."

"Thank you sir."

"Good. Now go. The first carting of the day should start soon, so you better get down there. The cart you're moving has your name on it, so use that from here on out."

I nodded and we shook hands before I walked out of his office and went downstairs where all the donkey carts were. I began putting barrels on the cart and tied them in when I had everything together and left with the rest of the group to the castle. The castle wasn't far from town, but the distribution part of the castle wasn't right where I would think. It was off to the far left of the castle and was well made and had bright lights and seemed to house only wealthy in the lines. I should have figured vodka was a luxury in this town.

When the day ended, I went to dinner with Vasilyev, not wanting to be rude even though I was still feeling weird about the conversation I'd had with Evelina. When I was there, I only spoke to Vasilyev and he asked me questions about how my first day went. When I finished my dinner, I took my leave and went home. When I arrived, there was someone else there that I'd never met before. He looked surprised when he saw me, but he relaxed when he realized who I must be.

"Are you Demetri Zolneryev?" I nodded. "Hello. I'm Boris. A Zolneryev like yourself. I was told you and I were the only ones who would be living here." I nodded.

"That's right."

"I must say. How lucky am I that I was the first one to make a second offer on this place? I can't believe I can have the house semi to myself." I smiled.

"I can't believe I was the first one to offer." Boris chuckled and nodded his head.

"Indeed so. Do you work at the construction site? I don't remember seeing you today." I shook my head.

"I just started working at the Brewery." Boris looked surprised.

"They accept Zolneryev?" I shook my head.

"Not usually. I just managed to befriend Argo Vasilyev and he offered me a job and I started today."

"How did you befriend him?" I wasn't sure if I should answer him, so I spoke vaguely.

"We met and he took a liking to me. We befriended each other through conversation and that's how it started."

"Interesting."

Boris and I didn't speak much more after that. We were both tired and just wanted to sleep. A few weeks went by of me working for Vasilyev and all that time, I never spoke to Evelina. I stopped going there for dinner and would come home early and eat what was rationed out to the construction workers and go to bed early. Eventually it was months that went by and before I knew it, it was summer. I was still working as a carter and had finished my last transport for the day when one of my superiors walked over to me.

"Zolneryev. Vasilyev wants to talk to you." I nodded at my superior and walked up the stairs to his office and knocked. He told me to come in and I closed the door behind me and sat down in front of him.

"You asked for me sir?"

"Yes, I did. I wanted to let you know that my daughter's wedding is in two days. I wanted to invite you to the wedding. You'd get a day off work. It's a good deal." I smiled, but I wasn't sure if I should accept. I hadn't seen or spoken to Evelina in months and I wasn't sure if she would be happy to see me.

"You want me at the wedding?"

"Evelina said she wanted you there. She said you two had become such good friends and she missed seeing you, so she wanted you there. Please say you'll come." I was quiet only a moment before I smiled and nodded my head.

"Alright. I'll come. I wouldn't miss her wedding for the world."

"Thank you Zolneryev. It means a lot to her that you be there. And since you're done for the day, please join me and my daughter for dinner tonight. I'm sure she would love to know you're coming to her wedding."

"If you wish, sir."

"You go on ahead. I have a little business I need to finish here, but I'll be there soon. I'll let you give my daughter the good news." I nodded and stood from the chair.

"Of course sir." Vasilyev and I said our goodbyes and I walked out of his office and made my way to his home. But I did so at a slow pace. By the time I got to his home, the sun was about to set. I knocked on the side door out of habit and waited for the door to open. Evelina answered the door and smiled.

"I thought you said you wouldn't be a stranger." We laughed a little and she let me in.

"I'm sorry. Work makes me tired, so I usually go home. Vasilyev said you wanted to invite me to your wedding."

"Yes, I did." We were quiet. "May I take you coat." I looked at her finally and nodded.

"Sure." I took off my coat and handed it to her. It was a much lighter coat than my fur one. It was also new. Evelina noticed.

"When did you get this?"

"A month ago. My other coat was getting too warm so I got a new one." Evelina hung my coat next to the door and walked over to me.

"Why didn't you knock on the front door?" I shrugged.

"Habit I guess." Evelina smiled and we were awkwardly quiet again. She spoke finally and it made the air a little more awkward.

"I wanted to apologize for what happened. I knew it was months ago, but later is better than never right?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to offend you or hurt your feelings. I didn't know what else to say, so I said the first thing I thought of. Obviously, that wasn't exactly anything nice." Evelina smiled and nodded.

"I was hardly any better. But I wanted us to be okay again. I mean, we are friends, right?" I nodded.

"Of course."

"By the way, how's your reading coming along?" I smiled.

"It's a little slow, but I managed to get through a few books of the bible."

"That's good to hear. As long as you're making progress. I'm proud of you for doing it on your own."

"I am too. So how've you been?"

"Well. I've been with my fiancé a lot more in the past few months. He wanted me to help plan for the ceremony. What food and guests I wanted and all. He was surprised when I asked to invite you. But when I told him who you were, he said it sounded like a good idea."

"Well, I am honored to be invited." Evelina smiled and walked over to me and hugged me. It was the first time we'd ever done anything like that, so it was a moment before I hugged her back. But when I did, it was a long time before we let each other go. And a moment later, I realized it wasn't just physical attraction that she had for me. It was something deeper. But I said nothing and let her go.

"So what are you making for dinner?" Evelina walked away from me and to the kitchen.

"I was going to make some lamb. One of the men that runs a farm my father owns came here with a young lamb. He said it was the best of the bunch."

"You're father owns a farm?"

"He does now. He got it last month. It was my fiancé's wedding gift."

"And what did you give as a dowry?"

"Some profits from the brewery I think. I'm not really sure. Father's taking care of all that. All I planned was what we were eating and what my dress would be."

"Sounds nice."

"It was. I was hardly involved. My bridesmaids are going to me my new handmaidens."

"Handmaidens? How extravagant." Evelina giggled and looked at me with a smile.

"I admit I missed that sense of humor. Father's so dry when it comes to humor."

"I noticed." We were quiet again as she looked at me. Then she pointed at the kitchen table.

"Won't you sit down?" I smiled and nodded. Then I walked to the table and took a seat where I had normally sat and watched her walk over to me. When she was seated in her father's chair, she scooted slightly closer. "How about you show me everything you've learned from your reading. I can fetch the bible for you." I shrugged.

"If you like." Evelina smiled and left the table to get the bible. When she came back with it, she handed it to me and sat next to me and listened to me read. I managed to get through a few paragraphs with little help, but she helped me whenever I was having trouble with a letter. We stopped when Vasilyev walked through the door and Evelina needed to start dinner.

The night went by with conversation and asking me what I'd been up to in the time since I'd last seen them. I answered all of Vasilyev's questions and he even said he was impressed that I was such a good worker. I didn't leave with a raise or a promotion, but I was still making more than I had in construction, so I was happy. And Boris and I had started becoming friends. I told him the truth about Vasilyev and staying with him and he just chuckled and said he'd wished he could've met me sooner. After a while, we were like brothers. We'd both lost our families because of the war and so we connected on that common lose and helped each other cope with it.

When Vasilyev and I finished eating, we took some time to have a smoke together and drink some vodka. I hadn't had his vodka in a while and he also took the opportunity to tell me that he was using Evelina's wedding to show off another brew he'd made up and told me to make sure to get some. When Vasilyev went to bed, I was about to leave when Evelina stopped me at the side door.

"So you are coming to the wedding right?" I nodded.

"Yes, I'm coming. I look forward to some free food and vodka. I haven't had that luxury in a while." Evelina giggled.

"I wouldn't imagine so." There was a moment of silence before Evelina spoke again. "And you did a good job earlier when you were reading. You might not think so, but you've come a very long way. You should be proud of yourself."

"Thank you for that." Evelina walked a little closer and hugged me again. I hugged her back and she rested her head on my chest.

"I missed you. I really did."

"I know. I missed you too."

"And I'm happy that you accepted my invitation to the wedding. It wouldn't have felt right not to have you there."

"Thank you for inviting me. I better leave and get some sleep." Evelina nodded.

"Of course." Evelina tightened her hug, then looked up at me with her brown eyes. I never really looked at them before and they were sweet, just like the rest of her. She took me by surprise and ended up kissing me.

I was stiffened from surprise at first and I didn't move. Seconds passed and Evelina pushed herself away from me with her hand over her lips in surprise. I was still standing there with nothing to say and no idea what to do. Evelina offered a string of apologies while I continued to stand there motionless. Eventually, we looked at each other again and I could swear there was a spark that flashed and she was back to me in my arms kissing me again. This time, I wasn't stunned or stiff. I moved my lips with hers and offered everything I had into the kiss. And before long, we were both on the ground together kissing. Evelina was the one to stand us back up and pull me with her to the laundry room where we could be completely alone.

Once we were in the laundry room alone, we pulled off each other's clothes and we were both naked and I was inside her within minutes. She squeaked slightly from the pain of me entering her, but she didn't permit me to stop moving, so I didn't. We stayed as quiet as we could through the whole union and when we were both spent, we looked at each other and kissed again. When that kiss ended, I finally pulled out of her and we stood there just hugging. It took a moment for us both to realize what had just happened, and we looked at each other. I seemed to be a little more effected by it than she was.

"I'm sorry." Evelina shook her head and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"No, don't be sorry. I started it." Evelina tightened her grip. "But I can't say I mind."

"What if your fiancé finds out?"

"He won't find out. I wasn't planning to tell him and I assume you weren't planning to tell anyone either." I shook my head.

"We shouldn't do this again. I don't want you in trouble because of me." Evelina shook her head again.

"I don't want to stop. I felt more alive in your arms than I ever had before. I don't want to stop."

"But.." Evelina kissed me again to silence me, then looked at me sincerely.

"I do care for you. More than simple friends. And I don't think I can stand being just friends. I've thought about this a lot and I don't want to be without you. I can stand not to be married, I can even stand not seeing you every day and us having children, but I can't stand being without you entirely. So please grant me that."

Neither of us said anything more. I just stood there and hugged her back, but I didn't give her an immediate answer. There was no undoing what just happened. And there was certainly no undoing the fact that if she found out within the month that she was pregnant that I would most likely be the father. But it was wrong to continue on with this. If anyone found out, it would mean my life and maybe hers. I didn't truly love her. That much I knew for certain. It was a physical attraction for me and nothing more. But then I realized something. If Evelina and I continued on with this, that would mean I could father one or more of her children. That would mean a better life for them. And it would be a way, for my petty sake, to get back at Novgorod for what happened and reducing me to nothing. Though it was for the wrong reasons entirely and though I didn't think of Evelina as any more than a friend, I tilted her head up with my finger on her chin and kissed her. That was the night Evelina Vasilyeva and I became lovers.


	18. Zolneryev

**Zolneryev**

**Novgorod 1246**

Five years had gone by and Evelina and I had somehow managed to remain lovers secretly. Even after all this time, I still didn't love her per se, but I did care about her. But unrelated to the affair, I worked myself up to a manager/overseer position with Vasilyev's factory. As far as I knew, he didn't know about me and Evelina. I didn't want him to know either. I respected the man and I didn't want him to think ill of me in any way. I must admit that I probably got the position I did more because he liked me as a friend and was doing me a favor. I'm sure a lot of the other workers thought that. Since I was a Zolneryev, there really wasn't any other way this would happen to me unless I was friends with the boss. My equals said as well many times to my face and behind my back, but I never said anything about it. One however had become my friend since I'd started working there.

He and I had become especially good friends. His name was Levka Zolneryev. I'd even told him about Evelina and what was going on between us. When he knew which Evelina I meant, he'd just stared at me a moment and eventually told me I was an idiot, and he didn't bring it up again the rest of the night or until the next time we had dinner at my house.

"Does Vasilyev know about this….hanky panky going on?" I laughed a bit to myself at his choice of words, then shook my head.

"No, he doesn't know about it. I would never let him know about it. I like the man and he doesn't deserve this from me."

"Interesting. And yet you're still sleeping with her." I sighed.

"Levka, she's the one who started the affair and she's the one that insists we keep it going."

"A huh. And since when do women call the shots in a relationship?"

"She does when she's married into the royal family and could easily blackmail me if I do anything to upset her."

"Would she do that?" I shrugged.

"Probably not, but I don't want to chance it." Levka shook his head a little and sighed. He decided to change the subject to something work related.

"You know we have to make a long distance hall tomorrow right?"

"Yeah, I heard. Vasilyev said I needed to go with you guys too." Levka looked surprised.

"Why would he want you to come with us? You haven't been on a packaging trip since you were promoted." I shrugged.

"I think he wants to make sure there isn't another incident like the last time." Levka sighed.

"We don't need our manager to protect us from looters, we need soldiers."

"He's sending two with us. Don't worry, we'll have protection. But Vasilyev still needs to make a financial arrangement with the emperor so the protection can be permanent. I'm also supposed to make sure they do their job properly." Levka chuckled.

"A Zolneryev would know how a soldier should perform I suppose. Though I'll admit, it's always bothered me that they never demanded we train with the other soldiers." I shrugged.

"They don't want to muddy the waters I suppose." Levka rolled his eyes a little to himself.

We went to bed shortly after that. We needed to make the delivery early in the morning and we needed our sleep. We were up at the crack of dawn and at the factory ten minutes later. It took everyone another ten minutes to get all the supplies on the carts. Once the entire ordered product was on the carts, we set off towards our destination. It was to a smaller village an hour away from Novgorod. It was a freezing cold morning and I had buried myself under three blankets on top of my heavy fur coat and hat. I was contemplating letting my beard grow out, I was so cold. I'd take the tax, I didn't care. _(Yes, around this time, men were taxed for having beards. Don't ask me why. I only know this because in math class, this was one of the freaky fakes our teacher read to us.)_A half hour after we left, we began hearing things from the woods. It was probably just wolves, but I told the two soldiers accompanying us to be on their guard.

"Do you think there are more looters out there?" Levka asked me.

"It's probably just an animal. But I'd rather be prepared and not need to be than not be prepared and wind up dead." Levka smiled.

"I won't argue with that logic." All the men remained silent, listening for anything that might be other men's footsteps. But there was nothing. I told the soldiers to remain away and relaxed a little when nothing happened after five minutes. But then another sound came that from the woods that made me concerned. But before I could bring it up, something lunged at me from the bushes. It was like a boulder was thrown at me and I could feel most of my bones breaking. Then I felt a stinging bite on my neck. I yelled, but there was more yelling in the background and I couldn't hear my own voice over it. Desperate, I reached to my right and grabbed the first thing I could, a large stick, and hit the thing on top of me with it.

What was on me pulled away, but not from pain. I realized it was a man, much paler than me and his eyes were red. He didn't seem to be bothered by me hitting him. If anything, he looked amused. He stayed sitting on top of me, knowing it hurt too much to try and move. Then, I suddenly felt something burning on my neck, but I couldn't put it out. Instead, I opted to scream, hoping someone would help me. But no one did. Once I started screaming, the man on top of me began laughing. Then he stood and grabbed a hold of my neck. I couldn't breathe anymore, but that didn't last for long. He brought me closer to his face until his mouth was near my ear. Then he whispered.

"Welcome to my world."

Then the man threw me into the woods, farther than I thought a man would be able to. By the time I'd landed, the burn was radiating all over my body and it was all I could feel. I was staring into the sky with the snow falling and the blistering chills doing nothing to ease my pain. Even when nightfall came, the cold did nothing for the burn. I wanted to move, maybe take off my coat to ease the burn, but I couldn't stand to. Three moons passed before I began feeling any relief. It ended first in my hands and feet until it worked its way up to my heart where it burned mercilessly for several minutes. Then the pain stopped, and I breathed out only to realize that I didn't need to breath. How odd. I also realized the cold didn't seem to bother me either. I sat up, took off my glove, and stuck my hand into the snow. I waited a few minutes, but there was no pain, no numbness from frost bite. I realized my hand was paler too.

I stood up and began walking aimlessly. I crossed the path that I remembered was what my group and I had been on the road. They weren't there anymore. There were a few remnants of the broken cart and a few shards of vodka bottles, the contents of which I could easily smell, but no bodies. Not even some blood, but the snow would most likely be a culprit of that. But then I also realized my throat was still burning. It was horrible, but I didn't know what to do. I tried eating snow. There was a slight relief, but nowhere near good enough. I started walking down the path, not knowing what else I could possibly do. Hours passed, and I crossed paths with travelers. Without even thinking, I killed them all and drank their blood. The blood soothed the burn. I also saw myself in their silver buckles. My eyes were scarlet red, but it didn't frighten me like I thought it would. I was more bothered by all the ringing sounds that were in my ear. Some were louder than others, but somehow, I knew these sounds and what direction they were coming from. I followed one of those rings to a woman in the woods gathering firewood. I drank her blood too.

I realized the rings were coming from people. It was strange, yet oddly convenient for hunting, and I took it to the fullest advantage. It was three years of wondering before I heard tenors, as I called them, that weren't like the others. They were different in such a subtle way, but enough that I knew it wasn't human. That's when I met Anna and Alecsandr. They were kind to me and they took me into their group with open arms. They asked me several things about what I remembered about my human life and how long I'd been a vampire. We ended up walking for hours until we reached a little cottage that seemed to be theirs. I found that strange that vampires would have a cottage. Then, as we approached, out came a little girl. Alecsandr tried to avert my eyes to her while Anna took the little girl back inside, scolding her. She was a vampire like us, I could tell. She had our red eyes and I could smell her sweet scent even from as far away as I was.

"Who was that?" I asked Alecsandr. He seemed extremely reluctant to tell me. I wondered why.

"It's no one. Just a little village girl my wife took in."

"You changed a child? Whatever for?" I couldn't understand why Alecsandr was so distraught seemingly over me realizing he and Anna had this child. But he breathed out and looked me dead in the eyes with a stern, but pleading gaze.

"If I explain this to you, you must keep this a secret. You're to tell no one of this."

"Of course. Why is there such a problem?" Then, Alecsandr realized I didn't understand what the problem was. Then he sighed in relief.

"It's a silly thing. I wouldn't worry too much of the matter, but I ask that you still keep that little girl's existence a secret. Please. Anna would be heartbroken if anything happened to that girl. Her own children died of disease when she was human, so she changed the girl when she found her suffering from the same disease as her children. She even named her Kathryn, after her eldest daughter."

"So you saved her from certain death. I see. Worry not, I won't tell a soul of Kathryn." Alecsandr smiled.

"Thank you, Demetri. I'm indebted to you."

Demetri stayed with Alecsandr and Anna for years after that. Kathryn would usually stay in that little house while they went out looking for blood for her. Fifteen years went by. There was no change to Kathryn and no change to Demetri either. He'd become used to being in that group, but he remained relatively silent with them. The only request they'd ever made of him was to make sure they never encountered the Volturi. Despite having no way of knowing who the Volturi were, he promised to keep himself alert and avoid their tenors at all cost.

On the fifteen year mark, Demetri began hearing tenors approach, but it was a large group. He sensed eleven tenors together. Demetri mentioned this to Alecsandr, who instinctively knew only the Volturi would travel together in a group that size and asked him to keep them out of distance with them. He managed to do so for several months. But eventually, the group split up. That made it harder to avoid the Volturi. Days after that, Demetri noticed they were closing in on where he and his new coven where, but he still did what he could to avoid the Volturi. But eventually, it was impossible and they were cornered. All eleven vampires encountered Demetri, Alecsandr, and Anna. When a man with long black hair came into site, a larger man with cropped hair was holding Kathryn.

"Kathryn!" Anna Ran to Kathryn, but Felix pushed her back and she landed in Alecsandr's arms. "Kathryn, honey, are you okay?" Kathryn was sobbing tearlessly while the man with cropped hair held her by the collar. The man with long black hair looked at a tall, auburn haired woman in a language Demetri didn't recognize. Then she walked closer to them and began speaking to them in Russian.

"I take it you three recognize this little girl."

"Please," Anna pleaded, "Let her go. The fault is mine and mine alone. She was sick. I couldn't leave her that way. I had to help her." The woman looked back at the man with black hair and translated. He responded with a breathy laugh, spoke, then the woman translated.

"If you wanted to help her, you should have killed her. Instead, all you did was set yourself up for execution. Not just for yourself, but for this little girl, and the two men traveling with you." The black haired man then said something to the man with cropped hair. That man then twisted Kathryn's neck, separated her head from her shoulders. Anna screamed and tried to run to Kathryn, but Alecsandr held her back.

Alecsandr began to plea, but the crop haired man ran to them and killed them. He was about to strike Demetri, but Demetri, unlike his companions, fought back viciously. The black haired man began watching intently, telling his other members to stand back and let the two men fight. The fight went on for several minutes before Demetri eventually won and tore then man's head from his shoulders. After he won, the black haired man began clapping and Demetri looked at him oddly. He began walking closer to Demetri, who stepped back. The man glanced back at the woman pleadingly.

"He wants to read your mind. I think he has high hopes for you."

"He what?" Demetri said. The man then took a hold of Demetri's hand and stood still for several seconds before he let go and smiled. Then he spoke to the woman, who then interpreted.

"He's impressed with your tracking power. He said he's willing to allow you to live despite your involvement on the condition that you join our coven. Mind you, Aro's rather impatient, so I suggest you decide what you want to do now." Demetri glared at the woman.

"Join or die. That's my option? Fine! I can fight all of you off." The woman shook her head.

"Don't, please. I know it's a rather unreasonable request in such a short time, but please say yes. Enough will be killed today." Around that time, the man Demetri had taken down had managed to put his head back on and cracked it into place. He looked at Demetri with a smile and held out his hand for a shake and said something. "He said he's never been bested before and he's impressed. His name is Felix." Demetri reluctantly accepted Felix's hand.

"Demetri." The woman pointed at herself.

"And I'm Heidi." Then Heidi introduced the rest of the group and what their power was, then Heidi once again begged Demetri to accept Aro's offer. Eventually, Demetri sighed, rolled his eyes, and nodded.

"Fine."


End file.
